A blistering 86 not out by Rajagopal Sathish helped Chennai Superstars beat Kolkata Tigers by 32 runs and finish third in the ICL's Twenty20 tournament in Panchkula, Haryana, on Friday.
The 27-year-old right-hander got his runs off just 42 balls and powered his team to a commanding 186-4 after they electing to bat under strong breezy conditions. He was declared man-of-the match for his effort.
Opener G Vignesh (40 in 19 balls) and Hemang Badani scored run-a-ball 36 for Superstars, who won the ICL's inaugural Twenty20 championship played in December.
While Al Ahmed was the most successful bowler for the Tigers, claiming three wickets giving away 28 runs, in sharp contrast, Eklak Ahmid came in for some stick from Sathish and ended up giving 51 runs in his allotted four overs.
Tigers, who had given anxious moments to Lahore Badshahs in the semi-finals on Thursday, were bundled out for 154 in 18.4 overs.
Skipper Craig Mac Millan (35) was the top scorer for his team while opener Deep Dasgupta struck a quickfire 34.
Lance Klusener (14), who scored 91 as Tigers went down to Badshahs by seven runs, failed to reproduce the same form and was dismissed LBW to Shabeer Ahmed.
It was Thiru Kumaran and V Devendran who wrecked the Tigers innings, which collapsed from 113 for 5 in the 13th over.
Superstars pocketed Rs 50 lakh for coming third.
Brief scores: Chennai Superstars186 for 4 (Sathish 86, Vignesh 40, Nechim 3/28) bt Kolkata Tigers 154 all out in18.4 overs (Dasgupta34, McMillan35, Kumaran 3/12).
