In a yawn-inducing crawl, Deccan Chargers meandered to 82, the lowest total of the season, and Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked it off without much fuss to book their spot in the next Champions League.

Not many people bothered to turn up for the game, nine Deccan batsmen scored less than five runs and a dull, almost anaesthetic, atmosphere prevailed through their innings. Adam Gilchrist’s early dismissal set the tone for the innings: It was a slow gentle full toss from Anil Kumble and while it was in its trajectory you felt it was going to be smashed for a six but Gilchrist contrived to hit it to deep backward square-leg where Jacques Kallis took a neat catch.

It was that kind of a dull and dreary night. Perhaps the loss in semi-final had sapped Deccan, perhaps it was just one of those nights when nothing went right for them and it made for almost painful watching experience.

Bangalore ticked off all the boxes that were required of them: Kumble showed his intent by opening against Gilchrist, Praveen Kumar mixed his cutters with slower ones in a tight spell, and Dale Steyn, though not as pacy as he has been in this tournament so far, was accurate to keep the batsmen in check. Monish Mishra played all around a straight delivery from Praveen to be trapped in front and Rohit Sharma threw his wicket away with a lame pull shot to mid-on.

Much depended on Andrew Symonds at that stage and he even got a reprieve when Steyn ran in too much at fine-leg to drop a catch but he fell on the very next delivery. He backed away to try force Steyn through the off side but edged it behind to the keeper to leave Deccan struggling at 27 for 4 in 6.1 overs. And it soon turned to 35 for 5 when a clueless Dwayne Smith had his Richard Blakey moment against Kumble: It was a slider that came in from just outside off but Smith stabbed at thin air and looked slightly sheepish when he lost his off stump.

It was only due to Anirudh Singh, one of many changes in the Deccan set-up for this game, that Deccan avoided complete embarrassment. He probably would pick a sliced square-drive over backward point off Steyn as his top shot though a thumping drive over covers off a slower one from the same bowler too caught the eye. There was even a six against Nayan Doshi, who made an impressive IPL debut, but Anirudh mainly dealt in nudged singles. When he fell in the 16th over, bowled by Kallis, Deccan lost their only hope of reaching 100.

Rahul Dravid and Kallis ensured Bangalore got off to a solid start and once they achieved it, it was always going be a just a stroll in the park for them. Though Kallis fell in the eight over, Dravid guided Bangalore through in the company of Kevin Pietersen.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Doug Bollinger scalped four crucial wickets as Chennai Super Kings beat Deccan Chargers by 38 runs to enter the IPL 3 final where they will play with Mumbai Indians on Sunday.

It was a triumphant performance by the Chennai bowlers as they bowled out the Hyderabad site for 104 runs while defending 142 runs.

Bollinger got rid of Adam Gilchrist, Tirumalsetti Suman, Bodapati Sumanth and Ryan Harris. Whereas Shadab Jakati chipped in with two wickets. jakati scalped opener Herschelle Gibbs and Monish Mishra.

Albie Morkel, Albie Morkel and Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan contributed with one wicket each.

R Ashwin of Chennai Super Kings scalped Andrew Symonds to give a big blow to the Deccan Chargers run-chase in the second IPL semifinal at DY Patil Stadium.

Shadab Jakati took his second wicket of the innings as he scalped Monish Mishra. Jakati shortened the ball knowing Mishra coming down for a big hit. Mishra missed the ball and the rest was accomplished by MS Dhoni behind the wicket.

Jakati clean bowled Herschelle Gibbs to give a big blow to the Deccan’s hope of reaching the semifinal.

Deccan got a big blow when their Mr. dependable Rohit Sharma returned to the pavillion. Rohit looked to clear the man at the boundary and got the toe end of the bat and found Muttiah Muralitharan at long on.

Bollinger took his second wicket of the match when he dismissed Tirumalsetti Suman. The Deccan batsman made room and hit hard but the ball flied to Raina where he caught easily.

Doug Bollinger provided the first breakthrough by getting rid of explosive opener Adam Gilchrist. Though Deccan skipper is going out of form, his wicket gave a psychological edge to the Chennai squad. Gilchrist was caught by Anirudha at mid wicket who to completed a low catch.

Earlier, Ryan Harris took 3 wickets as Deccan Chargers restricted Chennai Super Kings to 142/7 in the second IPL semifinal on Thursday.

Subramaniam Badrinath top scored for Chennai with a 32-ball 30 before he was run out by Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist.

Srikkanth Anirudha hit 2 sixes and a four in his 15-ball 24 and it was due to him that Chennai touched the 140-run mark.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Albie Morkel were dismissed in successive overs to leave Chennai struggling at 96/5.

Harmeet Singh had Dhoni caught by Rohit Sharma at gully after the Chennai captain added 52 runs with Badrinath for the fourth wicket.

Pragyan Ojha struck in the next over when he had Albie Morkel (4) caught by Andrew Symonds at long-on.

Batting first, Chennai Super Kings were struggling with three wickets down after five overs.

Harris gave Deccan an early breakthrough when he had Matthew Hayden (8) caught by Andrew Symonds in the covers in the second over. Hayden, who was dropped when he was yet to get off the mark by RP Singh at short extra cover and by Tirumalsetti Suman at gully when he was on 4, did not make Deccan pay.

In his next over, Harris trapped Murali Vijay (15) plumb in front of the wicket.

In the next over, Andrew Symonds had in-form Suresh Raina caught by wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist to reduce Chennai Super Kings to 29/3.

Deccan have made three changes to their team. Ryan Harris, Herschelle Gibbs and RP Singh come in for Mitchell Marsh, Chaminda Vaas and Rahul Sharma.

Chennai have made two changes to their playing eleven. Srikkanth Anirudha comes in for Sudeep Tyagi and Muttiah Muralitharan comes in for Justin Kemp.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Murali Vijay, Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Albie Morkel, Srikkanth Anirudha, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Doug Bollinger, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (Capt.), Herschelle Gibbs, Monish Mishra, Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Tirumalsetti Suman, Bodapati Sumanth, Pragyan Ojha, Ryan Harris, Harmeet Singh, RP Singh.

Source: Times of Indian

They were the IPL’s nomads, they needed to win five games in a row to reach the semi-finals, and things looked heavily loaded against them. But Deccan Chargers, the defending champions, made it. On a slow pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla, Andrew Symonds’ sparkling 54 gave Deccan a defendable total, which they protected with an inspired fielding performance led by Rohit Sharma and disciplined bowling. Paul Collingwood kept Delhi in the chase until the end but he lacked the firepower, and support, to pull off a victory.

It came to 17 runs from the final over but Chaminda Vaas sealed Delhi’s fate with a fine over, mixing his slower ones with near-perfect yorkers. Deccan had earlier wobbled at the start before the Symonds show and slowed to a crawl post his fall to reach 145 for 7. It was a slightly slow pitch, better than the previous tracks in Feroz Shah Kotla though, and the chase was unlikely to be a stroll for Delhi. And it wasn’t.

Rohit, who didn’t contribute much with the bat, took couple of breathtaking catches to tilt the game Deccan’s way. He flew very low to his right at first slip to grab a high-quality catch to remove Virender Sehwag. A short while later he flung himself to his left at short midwicket to get rid of Gautam Gambhir. It’s tempting to solely focus on Rohit but both half-chances that he converted were created by some good bowling. Chaminda Vaas had deceived Sehwag, who had just creamed couple of boundaries, with a slower off cutter and Pragyan Ojha had beaten Gambhir in the flight, forcing him to drag it much squarer than he had originally intended. Just before Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan had fallen, trying to paddle scoop but was done in by the slower one from Harmeet Singh, who had delivered the ball as if he were a legspinner bowling a skidding slider.

The triple strike had nearly derailed the chase and considering Paul Collingwood’s recent struggles this IPL against spin, Delhi depended heavily on Dinesh Karthik if they were to turn things around. When Gambhir fell the equation read 107 from 82 and when Mithun Manhas was run out after a misunderstanding with Collingwood, Delhi needed 78 from 49 deliveries. It was at this point Karthik entered the fray but he didn’t last long as he was done in by Ojha. It landed on the middle and off and turned just enough to go past the lame poke to peg back the off stump. It was the shot that sealed the fate of Delhi. Collingwood hanged around for a while and was even dropped couple of times by, of all the people, Rohit and Symonds but couldn’t finish it off.

It was indeed an inspired bowling performance from Deccan but if it weren’t for a superbly-crafted knock from Symonds, the bowlers would not have had anything to defend. Deccan solely depended on Symonds. The story of their innings was summarised after the first time-out in the tenth over. Amit Mishra bowled with a slip and a silly point to the new batsman Mitchell Marsh, but when Symonds came on strike most fielders were back patrolling the boundary. Delhi were on the attack and knew only one man posed a threat. Marshall preserved his wicket and allowed Symonds to play a fine knock.

Initially, Symonds reserved all his aggression for Amit Mishra: It was a fine battle because Mishra troubled him with his googlies, which Symonds picked only off the pitch, but he would time and again counterattack with a muscled hit. He moved down the track to lift a leg break over long-off, followed it by biffing a googly into the same stand and slugged a flighted delivery from outside off over long-on. In between, he edged a legbreak between the keeper and first slip and just when Mishra was seemingly on the ascent, Symonds would break free.

He crashed Tillakaratne Dilshan’s offbreaks for two sixes and even played a delicate late cut against Paul Collingwood to collect a boundary. Deccan had reached 116 for 4 in the 15th over and things were set for a final assault when Symonds fell. Mishra had just switched to bowling from round the stumps to Symonds and had his man chipping straight to long off. Delhi applied the squeeze from then on, just as they had done in the first half of the game, but the total proved beyond their reach.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Rohit Sharma avoided a repeat of the choke against Rajasthan Royals, and Deccan Chargers bit another bullet on route to a fourth consecutive win, one that gave them an even chance in the semi-final race. Deccan’s bowlers did plenty to lose this one, but a graceful yet lethal 68 off 38 balls from Rohit took them home. Apart from the falling wickets, Rohit had to make up for another ordinary finish by Deccan’s bowlers: 76 runs off the last five overs, during which time Mahela Jayawardene scored 57 off 18.

Put in on a difficult pitch, Kings XI Punjab were 98 after 15 overs, Deccan reached 98 in 11. Deccan bowled tripe in the last five to reconfirm their reputation of being worst at the death, and their batsmen kept getting out regularly to bowling that was not extraordinary.

That they reached 98 in 11 overs was thanks to some clean golf-like swinging from T Suman and Rohit who swung the momentum Deccan’s way. After Adam Gilchrist failed to last the Powerplay yet again, both Suman and Monish Mishra struggled against short deliveries on a tricky pitch.

It was a dry surface covered by grass from a good-length area at one end to just short of a length at the other. Anything pitched in the grassy area got extra bounce and seam movement. Punjab’s inexperienced attack took advantage of that, but every time they pitched up Suman effortlessly lofted them out of the ground. When Suman did get out in the 14th over, with 55 required off 41, Deccan were favourites. Especially with Rohit, who had reached 40 off 22 without having moved a bone in a hurry.

In the next over, though, Andrew Symonds went to manufacture a cut against Juan Theron and was bowled. Two tight overs followed, and Deccan were in familiar territory: 29 runs from 18 balls, Rohit in the middle and the Rajasthan choke fresh in everyone’s memory.

It was then that Yuvraj Singh bowled an over that would take the game this way or that. It took the game this way and that. Mitchell Marsh launched him for a six first ball, but holed out later in the over to leave Rohit needing to score 19 off the last two. That’s when Rohit added grit to the grace, converting two one-and-a-halves into twos in the 19th over, then picking an Irfan Pathan slower one over wide long-on for four.

With seven required off seven, Rohit teased again, mis-hit another loft into the same area, Piyush Chawla ran across from long-on, didn’t cut the angle, and had to dive both back and to the right. The valiant dive resulted in his getting a hand onto it, and a parried six. Game over.

While it might have been cathartic for Rohit to carry his team over the line, he shouldn’t have been chasing so much. Deccan had won an important toss on a tricky pitch, they had the better bowlers, and they had even got off to a good start. Even Mitchell, a medium-pace bowler, managed to trouble the batsmen. Ryan Harris used the conditions best, removing Shaun Marsh for a duck with the extra bounce.

Mitchell and RP Singh, though, didn’t manage to hit the right lengths consistently. Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawardene made full use of either balls too short or half-volleys. Even as Jayawardene struggled to get the timing right in the middle overs, Sangakkara kept playing the pretty strokes, moving to 52 off 36.

Rahul Sharma removed Sangakkara with the second ball he bowled, the next four overs went for just 12, but Jayawardene was about to shift a gear. In the 16th over Jayawardene, on 36 off 44 balls, smashed Rahul for a six and a four. In the 17th RP was short and wide, and went for five consecutive boundaries. In the 19th, even Harris bowled length and Jayawardene and Yuvraj took 18 runs off it, double of what he had gone for in the first three. Gilchrist bravely invited RP to bowl the last over. The bowler duly brought up his fifty by going for 14 runs.

Put together, Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Rohit made up for the fact that the night match rendered invisible the breathtaking hilly surroundings in Dharamsala. Uncultured shots were conspicuous by absence.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Rohit Sharma struck a vital half-century and shared 82 runs for the fourth-wicket with Mohnish Mishra (41) as title holders Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 13 runs to stay afloat for a semifinal spot in the Indian Premier League on Monday.

Rohit (51 off 46) and Mohnish Mishra (41 off 30) resurrected the Deccan innings with the 60-ball valuable partnership to guide the defending champions to 151 for six after Dale Steyn (3/18) did the early damage with three quick wickets.

And then the Deccan bowlers rose to the occasion with RP Singh (2/21), Pragyan Ojha (2/22), Harmeet Singh (2/24) and Ryan Harris (2/34) sharing eight wickets among themselves to bowl out the Royal Challengers for 138 in 19.4 overs.

Rahul Dravid top-scored for Royal Challengers with a classical 49 while Robin Uthappa made a breezy 34 off 20 balls.

Chasing the modest target, Royal Challengers did not have the perfect start as Ryan Harris struck in his and innings’ first delivery for Deccan.

The Australian pacer found Manish Pandey fishing at a moving delivery, only to get a thick edge which Deccan skipper Adam Gilchrist obliged with both hands.

But then came in Rahul Dravid who looked in great touch. He opened his account with a copy book drive off Harris and then welcomed Andrew Symonds with two boundaries in his first over.

Harmeet also faced the brunt of Dravid’s aggression as he hit the medium pacer for back-to-back boundaries.

However, Dravid’s 35-ball beautiful innings, which was studded with eight fours, was halted by Symonds just one run before the half century as the right-hander hit one straight to Sumanth at the long-off boundary.

Dravid’s downfall seemed to have pumped Deccan as they picked three more wickets in consecutive overs to claw back into the game.

Ojha displayed some fine left-arm spin bowling and accounted for two Bangalore batsmen — Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli — during his four overs spell.

He first got the vital wicket of tournament’s highest run-getter Jacques Kallis (25 off 37), caught by Sumanth and then had Kohli out in identical fashion.

RP Singh too picked up two crucial wickets to help his side’s cause. The left-arm pacer disturbed Ross Taylor’s timbers with a beauty of a yorker and then picked up Cameron White in his next over, caught by Symonds.

However, in-form Uthappa had other plans. Needing 39 off the last three overs, he clobbered Harris twice over the boundary to bring it down to 18 off 12 balls.

But then came the deciding moment of the match as Harmeet not only clean bowled dangerman Uthappa and then had Steyn lbw in the next delivery, but conceded only one run in the penultimate over.

In the end it proved to be a tall task for the Bangalore tailenders to score 17 runs off the final over as they could manage only three.

Earlier, Steyn justified his captain Anil Kumble’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss with double strike in the opening over. The South African pacer sent packing both Gilchrist and T Suman for one-ball duck to mark a dream start for the Bangalore side.

Steyn first induced a thin edge from Gilchrist’s willow in the fourth ball of the innings which Uthappa had no problems in grasping behind the stumps and then had Suman caught at the backward short-leg by Taylor after the right-hander failed to negotiate a short delivery.

Steyn again came to the party in his next over, going through Herschelle Gibbs’ (12) defence to register his third wicket of the day and see Deccan in a spot of bother at 14 for three.

But from there on Rohit and Mishra played sensibly and mixed caution with aggression to drag their side out of trouble.

Mishra was at his aggressive best as he hit Kumble, Kohli and KP Appanna for a six each apart from the lone boundary off Kallis before his 30-ball stay at the crease was cut short by an unnecessary run out.

Rohit too did not lag behind as he struck seven boundaries during his 46-ball innings — three of which came of Kallis in the 12th over.

Rohit was also involved in a 30-ball 35-run fifth wicket stand with Symonds (19 off 20) before the former Australian all-rounder was stumped by Uthappa off Kumble.

But just when it was time to step up the accelerator Rohit departed, caught by Pandey off R Vinay Kumar after he went for a big shot in search of quick runs.

Harris came up with a handy nine-ball 13-run unbeaten innings, while Sumanth remained unconquered on six to help Deccan get past the 150 mark.

Source: Times of India

Deccan Chargers continued to climb up the points table by beating Chennai Super Kings comprehensively by six wickets at their “home” venue in Nagpur to draw level with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and the losing side. The win was set up by their bowlers, after MS Dhoni decided to bat on a scorching afternoon, who restricted Chennai to 138, allowing the batsmen to chase at a comfortable pace despite two early jolts and the sapping heat. Deccan struggled against spin initially, losing three wickets to the slow stuff, but rode on another fifty from T Suman and Andrew Symonds’ cool head to seal victory with five balls to spare.

The only bit that really went right for Chennai was the toss, which Dhoni won and had little hesitation in choosing to bat. When Chennai accelerated from 21 after three overs to 55 for 1 from six it seemed a run-fest was on the cards. As it turned out, Chennai had little to celebrate thereafter. In the eighth over, M Vijay called for a suicidal second run and that momentary brain freeze changed the complexion of Chennai’s innings. It was another example of the schizophrenic series he’s had, with aborted starts amid some match-winning knocks, and from there Deccan never let the initiative slip.

From 65 for 2 in eight overs, Chennai slowed down to reach the half-way stage at 74 for 2 with Symonds and Pragyan Ojha keeping a check with stump-to-stump bowling. Chennai’s predicament had been brought about by their batsmen’s urge to dominate and as wickets fell around him, Suresh Raina began to improvise cleverly. He moved to leg to clip the ball fine and walked down the pitch to upset the bowlers, but also reined in his attacking instincts, knocking the ball in the gaps during the middle overs. Gilchrist put down a tough chance when Raina was 27 and he broke a 38-ball period without a boundary by stepping out and launching Ojha for a straight six and repeated the shot to Symonds in the following over. Raina struggled to keep a partner at the other end, as Michael Hussey pulled Symonds to deep midwicket and S Badrinath fell for 6.

When Raina fell for 52, Chennai only had 122 on the board with 16 deliveries to go and no recognised batsman to follow. Deccan never allowed matters to slip their grasp as Harmeet Singh stymied runs and Ryan Harris returned to pick up wickets in the last over. In a team which had more experienced names in their bowling line-up, the hero of the innings was Harmeet, who bowled with excellent control, changing his pace and offering the batsmen no width to score off. His dismissal of Matthew Hayden with his first ball, drawn into a drive, and final two frugal overs were a blow to Chennai’s hopes of getting a challenging total on the board.

A target of 139 meant than Chennai had to strike early to have any chance of a successful defense. The very impressive R Ashwin’s dismissal of the Deccan openers in the fifth over, with lovely traditional offspin, gave Chennai a sniff but Suman emphasised how crucial his presence at No. 3 was with a sensible innings. Against Bangalore two nights ago, Suman had batted aggressively because Deccan where chasing 185 but today he focused on staying at the crease.

He reigned in the big shots and along with Symonds -after Rohit Sharma fell to another aerial shot outside off stump – he stablised the innings, allowing himself to gain confidence against spin. Suman chipped Shadab Jakati for four and swung Raina for six, Symonds launched Jakati down the ground for maximum to negate the pressure, and the equation came to 49 from 36 balls. Dhoni had to turn to Sudeep Tyagi for his first over, the 15th, and Suman greeted him with four and six to cross fifty, the striking point being the use of a straight bat and clean swing. He fell with 32 needed from 24, a task which Symonds made sure was accomplished without too many jitters.

Deccan’s win means the match to follow tonight will break up the tie between Kolkata and Bangalore.

Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at http://iplt20cricketlive.com/?p=2814 Deccan Chargers 186 for 3 (Suman 78*, Symonds 53*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 184 for 6 (Kallis 68, Kohli 58, Ojha 2-24) by seven wickets…

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Captain Shane Warne took 4 wickets as Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers by 2 runs in a tense last over finish at VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Monday.

Chargers lost the match on the penultimate ball of the last when Siddharth Trivedi had Rohit Sharma caught by Abhishek Raut at deep cover. Rohit made a valiant 73 off 44 balls with the help of 2 sixes and 8 fours.

Warne dismissed Anirudh Singh (9) and Dwayne Smith (4) in successive overs to reduce Deccan Chargers to 120/5.

Warne first struck in his second over when he had Anirudh caught behind by Naman Ojha by the slider that slid away from outside off-stump and in the next over had Smith caught by Aditya Dole at deep backward square leg.

Warne then dismissed Azhar Bilakhia and Ryan Harris in one over to finish with his best T20 figures of 4-0-21-4.

Siddharth Trivedi had Andrew Symonds caught by Faiz Fazal at extra cover on his first delivery to reduce Deccan Chargers to 86/3.

Symonds, who looked edgy right from the start of his innings, hit 2 fours in his 20-ball 15.

Symonds’ dismissal came after Aditya Dole dismissed VVS Laxman and Adam Gilchrist in two overs on his IPL debut.

Dole first had Laxman (6) caught by Yusuf Pathan at deep square leg and in the next over had Gilchrist caught by Michael Lumb at mid-wicket. Gilchrist hit 3 sixes and 3 fours in his 17-ball 34.

Earlier, RP Singh took 3 wickets as Deccan Chargers restricted Rajasthan Royals to 159 despite Shane Watson’s valiant 58.

Apart from Watson and Faiz Fazal (36) there were no major contributors for Rajasthan.

Watson hit 3 sixes and 3 fours in his knock that came off 36 balls.

Watson hit his sixth IPL half-century off 29 balls soon after Ryan Harris dismissed Yusuf Pathan (5).

Watson reached his fifty in the over after Pathan was dismissed. The plan to pepper Pathan with short-pitched deliveries worked for Deccan as he edged a short ball to VVS Laxman at backward point.

Pragyan Ojha had Fazal caught by Azhar Bilakhia at deep mid-wicket to reduce Rajasthan Royals to 94/3.

Fazal fell after adding 77 with Watson for the third wicket and their partnership revived Rajasthan. Fazal hit 4 fours in his 29-ball knock.

For Rajasthan, Morne Morkel has replaced Shaun Tait.

Deccan have dropped Herschelle Gibbs.

Their semifinal hopes fading, neither Rajasthan nor Deccan can afford to lose.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (Capt.), Michael Lumb, Naman Ojha, Shane Watson, Yusuf Pathan, Faiz Fazal, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abhishek Raut, Siddharth Trivedi, Aditya Dole, Morne Morkel.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (Capt.), VVS Laxman, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Azhar Bilakhia, Dwayne Smith, Anirudh Singh, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ryan Harris, Harmeet Singh.

Source: Times of India

Ambati Rayudu cracked an unbeaten 29-ball 55 as table-toppers Mumbai Indians put up a sterling all-round performance to virtually seal a semifinal berth beating holders Deccan Chargers by 63 runs in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.

Opting to bat, Mumbai Indians piled up a challenging 178 for five, thanks to Rayudu and youngster Saurabh Tiwary who made a 44 off 35 balls at the floodlit Brabourne Stadium.

The hosts then skittled out the Adam Gilchrist-led side for 115 in 18.2 overs, with left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan (2/10), Harbhajan Singh (2/16), Kieron Pollard (2/26) and Ryan McLaren (2/28) claiming two wickets apiece.

It was fifth straight defeat for the visiting team whose semifinal hopes receded further after this loss — their fifth in eight matches. The hosts, on the other hand, is almost through to the last-four with 14 points from eight games.

Chasing a challenging 179-run target, the defending champions simply caved in by losing wickets at regular intervals as the hosts registered their sixth straight win in the tournament.

Big overseas guns of Chargers — Gilchrist (19), Herschelle Gibbs (17) as well as Andrew Symonds (21) failed to fire once again while VVS Laxman (4) and Rohit Sharma (5) too flopped.

The home team bowlers stuck to their game plan and were backed up splendidly by their fielders.

Zaheer fired out Gilchrist and Gibbs, Laxman was run out, Symonds fell to McLaren, and Pollard accounted for Rohit and Monish Mishra in the successive overs.

Half the team was back in the dug-out by the end of the 12th over with the score reading 81 and the match was as good as over.

Later Harbhajan got two wickets in just three balls to hasten the end.

Chargers started their run-chase on a poor note by losing Gibbs, Gilchrist and Laxman with only 40 on the board.

Gibbs once again showed glimpses of his capability, striking Harbhajan for two fours in the first over and then cover-driving Lasith Malinga for his third boundary.

But he rushed out to Zaheer in his first over and tried an almighty heave to leg, got a leading edge which was pouched with glee by Sachin Tendulkar at extra cover.

Laxman, included in the eleven in place of Venugopal Rao, was unfortunate to be run-out due to a misunderstanding with Gilchrist’s runner Ryan Harris.

Then just past the power play the visiting team captain too fell, bowled comprehensively by Zaheer as he tried to hoist over mid-wicket to leave the Chargers at a difficult 40 for three in the beginning of seventh over.

Symonds and Rohit looked to be steering the floundering ship from troubled waters when a superb return catch by the tall Pollard sent back the latter.

Symonds followed suit, bowled by McLaren, 13 runs later and it was an uphill task from then on for the rest of the batsmen.

Earlier, Rayudu who joined Tiwary when the hosts had lost three wickets in a heap to be at 62 for three after nine overs, recovered Mumbai from a mini collapse and post a challenging 178 for five.

Tiwary, who cracked three sixes and one four, added 65 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership with Rayudu.

Rayudu and Kieron Pollard (21) then added a quick 51 in less than five overs for the sixth-wicket combo to help MI end on a high note.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha picked up three wickets for 26 runs but Deccan, after looking like restricting high-flying hosts for a modest total conceded a lot of runs to the end.

The visitors gave away 34 runs in the last two overs off Harris and Jaskaran Singh.

Their expensive overs spoilt Ojha’s effort who picked up opener Shikhar Dhawan (14) and Dwayne Bravo (2) in successive overs and then added Tiwary to his tally.

Rahul Sharma also chipped in with the prized wicket of captain Tendulkar (35).

The home team batsmen struggled on a sluggish wicket that offered turn to the spinners.

Mumbai were given a good start by the right-left combination of Tendulkar and Dhawan who put on 53 runs before three wickets fell in quick succession.

Deccan started bowling with Rohit the off-spinner could not control the new ball and started with two wides before Tendulkar on-drove him with a lofted shot for a four. Rohit conceded 12 runs in the first over.

But Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist soon stumped Dhawan off Ojha to give the hosts first blow and in the next over Sharma trapped in-form Tendulkar plumb. He made 35 off 25 balls with the help of five fours.

The hosts were rocked further when Ojha made a ball turn that went past the bat of West Indian Bravo to reduce them to 62 for three from 53 for no loss in 18 balls.

Tiwary and Rayudu then did the consolidation job.

Source: NDTV Cricket

Inspired by their captain and urged on by the cauldron that is the Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders roared back into the competition with a clinical win over Deccan Chargers. A splendid 88 from Ganguly, who with David Hussey led Kolkata’s revival, propelled the home side to a formidable total and the bowlers struck telling blows across Deccan’s two-faced chase that petered out tamely. At the halfway stage of their innings Kolkata had 80 on the board, but the last five overs yielded 65 runs to furrow Adam Gilchrist’s brow. In stark contrast, Deccan managed just two boundaries in the last six overs and after Shane Bond bowled four consecutive dot balls in the penultimate over the last six deliveries were but a formality. Deccan’s nightmare was best summed up by the plight of their captain, Gilchrist, who missed two stumpings and was then knocked over for just nine.

For any Kolkata or Ganguly fan down the years, the man’s innings would have warmed the heart. Ganguly had been under the scanner for his sluggish scoring, but it was he and Hussey who added 78 in a steady 7.3 overs after Kolkata were struggling at 68 for 3. From the time he put away the first ball of the game away to the boundary off his hips, and cut the third one past point, Ganguly looked in the best groove hes been this year. But once again Kolkata had failed to make a strong start, with Chris Gayle and Cheteshwar Pujara failing to make an impression. Gayle flicked Jaskaran Singh for four behind square, but was utterly clueless about a gentle offcutter from Symonds that he lobbed high in the air to long-off. Pujara played three classy boundaries but was undone by the slowness of the track, becoming Symonds’ second victim. Despite some wayward bowling, Deccan had kept Kolkata to 46 for 2 after the Powerplays.

Ganguly broke the shackles against Kemar Roach with a lovely lofted six over mid-on, judging the length and hitting on the rise, and followed up next ball with a delicate dab to third man for four. He then played a lovely steer for four, timing Rohit’s offspin expertly between a strong off-side field.

Hussey’s arrival, after Manoj Tiwary played a poor shot to Pragyan Ojha, settled the innings. Ganguly batted on purposely, collecting boundaries both sides of square off the erratic Harmeet Singh, and reached his second fifty of the tournament by putting an Ojha full toss away for six. Kolkata’s scoring rate dipped slightly as Hussey indulged in some sensible single-hunting instead of risky shots, but Ganguly did well to keep it from slipping too far with the odd poached boundary. Only in two overs of their crucial alliance was a four not hit, and Gilchrist erred by missing a stumping when Ganguly was 67.At 116 for 3 after 15 overs, Kolkata had set themselves up for a final push.

Hussey got it going with a straight six off Symonds, moving from 11 from 16 balls to 17 from 17, and received a life when Gilchrist muffed a simple stumping off Ojha. In the same over Ganguly sent the Eden faithful into raptures with three slogged sixes before he fell trying a fourth. Hussey’s second six, off the expensive Roach, brought up the 150 and though he and Mathews fell in the space of three deliveries in the penultimate over, Agarkar slapped two boundaries to help the total to 181. The last five overs had cost 65 runs and that proved decisive in the final outcome.

Kolkata’s defense of 181 started in poor fashion, with the offspinner Mohnish Parmar thrust into a tough spot on his debut. Herschelle Gibbs took three boundaries off the opening over, two slapped fiercely past square leg and the third delicately run down to third man, and Deccan had 14 on the board. Shane Bond was then driven over extra cover for six by Gibbs, and it seemed the chase was on.

Enter Ajit Agarkar. Gilchrist smacked his first two balls for fur but top-edged the third to midwicket. That left Gibbs and Monish Mishra to rebuild the innings, and Mishra set about it with a lovely stab past the wicketkeeper for four but he couldn’t press on. He pummeled a few more handy blows in a breezy 29 before falling to an uncontrolled shot, and the runs started to dry up as a wee bit of swing led to more flails at air than solid connections.

Kolkata briefly threatened to throw it away, bowling a series of full tosses and spilling two catches. Gibbs was dropped on 34 by Angelo Mathews, who stuck out his right hand but failed to latch on, and Symonds was also let off by Parmar, though the ball was slapped back fiercely. Three boundaries in one Parmar over proved very handy to Deccan’s cause, but then came a double-strike that put the skids on the chase. Gibbs, just after getting to fifty, gave Bond the charge and picked out Hussey at long-off, while Rohit Sharma ate up three dot balls before being bowled off the thigh playing against the turn.

Suddenly the boundaries seemed miles away and the batsmen, especially Symonds, wary of going anywhere near them. Matthews allowed just six from the 17th over and with Deccan needing 48 from 18 deliveries, Agarkar returned to bowl a super eight-run over. Symonds picked up a boundary off the first ball of the 19th over, but that was the first Deccan had managed since the 14th over and that told a story in itself.

Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo