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Rohit revels in Chargers' win

Y.B. Sarangi

Mahela Jayawardene scores unbeaten 93

DHARAMSALA: Rohit Sharma led a well-planned run chase as Deccan Chargers defeated Kings XI Punjab by five wickets to stay in the hunt for a semifinal berth in the DLF-IPL III.

The game at the HPCA Stadium here on Friday was a must-win match for the Chargers and it achieved the winning target in 19.1 overs.

Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist asked the ‘home' side to bat after winning the toss. Kumar Sangakkara (52), continuing with his good form, scored off bad balls and helped Kings maintain a healthy run rate after Shaun Marsh's early exit.

The Lankan took some calculated risks in his nine hits to the fence and one over it. Soon after reaching his half-century, Sangakkara tried to reverse sweep leg-spinner Rahul Sharma and paid the price.

He put on 86 runs for the second wicket with Mahela Jayawardene.

Early in his innings, Jayawardene found it difficult to read the ball off the pitch and also had some close shaves while dealing with the bouncers.

The opener struggled against the slower bowlers too and got a ‘life' on 21 when Rahul Sharma, posted at short fine-leg, could not hold on to a difficult chance off Pragyan Ojha.

Mauling R.P. Singh

The Sri Lankan came good after his laboured effort till the 15th over. Jayawardene's offensive against R.P. Singh in the 17th over was breathtaking as he used his experience to hit the left-arm seamer for five consecutive fours, literally, all over the park.

Thanks to his unbeaten 93, Kings gathered as many as 76 runs in the last five overs to register a competitive total of 174 for three.

In reply, Chargers adopted a steady approach and collected runs without any haste.

T. Suman once again shone with his trademark stroke-play and had a valuable 66-run third-wicket partnership with Rohit Sharma.

Responsible knock

But it was Rohit who batted with responsibility, handling the twin tasks of anchoring the innings as well as scoring big shots to keep the pressure at bay.

Displaying typical effortless elegance, Rohit hammered six fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 38-ball 68. He was later named man of the match.

Except for a disciplined Piyush Chawla, the Kings bowlers disappointed the 20,000-plus ‘home' fans.

Meanwhile, there was much left to be desired as far as smooth entry of the spectators to the stadium was concerned.

The authorities were put through a tough test as the frustrated crowd, stranded outside well after the start of the match, tried to force their way in and in the process broke a gate of the stadium.

The scores:

Kings XI Punjab: M. Jayawardene (not out) 93 (62b, 13x4, 2x6), S. Marsh c Gilchrist b Harris 0 (1b), K. Sangakkara c Ojha b Rahul 52 (37b, 9x4, 1x6), Yuvraj c Symonds b R.P. Singh 20 (20b, 1x4, 1x6), Irfan (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-3, nb-1, w-4): 8. Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 174.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-87, 3-173.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Harris 4-0-27-1, R.P. Singh 4-0-51-1, M. Marsh 4-0-32-0, Symonds 2-0-16-0, Rohit 1-0-8-0, Ojha 2-0-19-0, Rahul 3-0-18-1.

Deccan Chargers: A. Gilchrist c Theron b Irfan 9 (5b, 2x4), M. Mishra lbw b Malik 20 (21b, 4x4), T. Suman c Sangakkara b Chawla 43 (31b, 3x4, 3x6), Rohit (not out) 68 (38b, 6x4, 3x6), A. Symonds b Theron 4 (6b), M. Marsh c Jayawardene b Yuvraj 15 (11b, 1x4, 1x6), B. Sumanth (not out) 6 (3b, 1x4); Extras (lb-6, w-7): 13. Total (for five wkts. in 19.1 overs): 178.

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-54, 3-120, 4-126, 5-154.

Kings XI Punjab bowling: Malik 2.1-0-23-1, Irfan 3-0-35-1, Srivastava 4-0-36-0, Theron 4-0-32-1, Chawla 4-0-24-1, Yuvraj 2-0-22-1 .

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