The Champions League is quickly turning to be quite a nightmare for the IPL sides, with the Chennai Super Kings the latest to fall by the wayside.
The Highveld Lions put on a searing chase, thanks largely to a brashful half-century from Gulam Bodi, reaching their target of 159 with three balls to spare at Newlands in Cape Town, to complete a six-wicket win.
CSK, after being put into bat, laboured to 158 for six, with the home team catching fire in the final few overs to take their second-straight win, and with it handing the former Champions League champs their second consecutive loss.
CSK looked in control after picking up two wickets in the first three overs - Doug Bollinger sending back Alviro Peterson, in the first ball, and Quinton De Kock.
However, a solid partnership from Bodi (64 from 46) and Neil McKenzie (32 in 34) slowly but surely swung the pendulum in the Lions' favor, with the former very much the aggressor in the partnership.
Once Bodi and McKenzie got out, Jean Symes played a little gem of an innings, smashing 39 runs from 23 balls, with Morris (12 in 7) giving him good company, as the Lions, needing nine from the last over, smashed two consecutive fours to cue the party celebrations.
Earlier, solid contributions from almost all their batsmen took CSK to a par score of 158. The first wicket partnership was worth 44, with Du Plessis, who hit two fours and a six in his 20-ball 25, the first to go, falling to fast bowler Chris Morris.
Raina also perished in the 20s, with Murali Vijay (22 from 25) the third man to get out after getting a start, trapped in front by the impressive Aaron Phangiso, who was named man of the match for his figures of two for 17.
Dhoni played a typically aggressive innings, even if he might have struggled to find the boundaries at will, the captain ending up the top scorer for his side with 34 from 26 balls. Ravindra Jadeja and Subramaniam Badrinath played a couple of quickfire knocks, but one always felt CSK were around 10-15 runs short, which turned out to be exactly the case.
CSK will now need to win the rest of their games by huge margins to stand any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
In the first game, the Sydney Sixers thrashed a hapless Yorkshire side by eight wickets, and with it garnering their second-straight win in the tournament.
Choosing to bat first, the English team barely put up any resistance against the Australian team's pace attack, ending their 20 overs on a lowly 96 for nine. Mitchell Starc was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 22, while Shane Watson and Pat Cummins picked up two wickets apiece.
Needing under 100 runs, Michael Lumb and Brad Haddin scored 43 and 41 respectively, to end the contest in a mere 8.5 overs.
