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Hussey was dismissed for five
Chennai Super Kings scored a comprehensive 37-run win against Pune Warriors in their IPL match on Tuesday to consolidate their top spot.
It was the two-time champions sixth win on the trot, and eighth in 10 matches. Pune has lost eight of its 10 matches.
After losing Michael Hussey (5) and Wriddhiman Sahara (13) early, Chennai recovered to score 164 for three in their stipulated 20 overs before restricting the home team to 127 for nine.
Richardson struck with his third ball
Young Australian paceman Kane Richardson and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled a fiery spell in the beginning to subdue the dangerous visitors.
Richardson knocked over Hussey in his third ball to give his side a rousing start.
Such ferocious was the attack that it took other opener Saha nine balls to get off the mark. The stumper though hit Richardson for a straight six and a four through cover region in the fifth over to break the shackles.
Rahul Sharma accounted for Saha
Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, too was impressive, as he was not only economical but also trapped Saha (13) to give Chennai the second blow. The visitors were 29 for 2 in six overs.
Encouraged by the pace-friendly pitch, skipper Aaron Finch smartly rotated Ashok Dinda, Abhishek Nayar and Kumar as Raina and Badrinath took some time to settle.
Raina's 16th IPL fifty helped him get past 2,500 runs
Suresh Raina worked his way to a superb unbeaten 63, his 50-ball knock inclusive of five boundaries and a six.
It was his 16th IPL fifty and during the course of his innings, Raina became the first batsman in the history of the T20 event to score 2,500 runs.
Badrinath made a valuable 34
Raina showed a lot of maturity while batting as he did the spade work along with S Badrinath (34).
The duo took Chennai 102 for 2 in 15 overs before Badrinath holed out in deep to Steven Smith off Wright.
But he had done his job well, setting the stage for onslaught in the concluding overs.
Dhoni contributed a 16-ball 45 not out
Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit a blistering 16-ball 45 and the captain's late fireworks helped considerably in side's remarkable recovery.
It was 61-run unbeaten partnership between Raina and Dhoni for the fourth wicket that spoilt all the good work Pune bowlers had done earlier.
It rained fours and sixes when Dhoni batted as Chennai collected 50 runs in the last four overs. Dhoni punished hapless bowlers with seven boundaries including three sixes, the last one coming off the last ball.
Mohit Sharma picked up three wickets
Paceman Mohit Sharma then rocked the Pune top-order in a fiery spell in which he dismissed Aaron Finch (15), T Suman (0) and Yuvraj Singh (5) from which the hosts never recovered and managed just 127 for nine.
Finch was caught behind and Suman was trapped in successive balls in Mohit's first over. He returned to scalp Yuvraj.
Raina's electric fielding resulted in run out of Robin Uthappa (10) which left the hosts reeling at 43 for four inside fifth over.