IPL 5: Deccan end Rajasthan hopes of playoff spot

An all-round performance helped the bottom-ranked Deccan Chargers to thrash Rajasthan Royals by five wickets and put them out of contention for the playoffs on Friday.

For Deccan Akshath Reddy top scored with 42 runs and with some valuable contributions from JP Duminy (24) and Shikhar Dhawan (26) in the middle overs. Although Rajasthan had some hope of defending their modest total of 126 after some quick wickets but Parthiv Patel and Ashish Reddy saw Deccan through without any further hiccups. Rajasthan’s Siddharth Trivedi took two wickets, while Johan Botha, Ajit Chandila and Stuart Binny chipped in with a wicket each.

Coming on for the chase, Deccan openers Dhawan and Reddy gave their team a great start from the first over itself. Going by the slow nature of the track, Dravid decided to start the proceedings with Chandila but the tall legspinner went for 11 runs which included a six and a four.

The runs kept coming thick and fast for Deccan as Rajasthan looked for their first breakthrough and that time came in the 9th over when Dhawan was dismissed by Botha for 26. But the wicket came tad too late for Rajasthan when Deccan were on course to an easy win with wickets in hand. But two quick wickets in the form of Reddy (42) and Cameron White (1) in successive overs brought Rajasthan back into the game.

These two wickets somehow applied brakes on their scoring rate and the wicket of Chris Lynn in the 16th over brightened Rajasthan’s chance of sneaking in a win with Deccan requiring 23 runs off 24 balls.

Earlier, Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and opted to bat and this decision of his backfired as his team managed to put up a modest score of 126 for 8. The pitch had purchase for both spinners and the seamers and they made good use of the conditions.

In a crucial match like this where Rajasthan are fighting to stay alive for the playoff failed to read the pitch and kept losing wickets at regular intervals that hampered their chance of putting up a decent total on the board.

Dravid was the leading scorer with 39 off 36 balls, which included five hits to the fence while Owais Shah (28) and Ashok Menaria (20) made useful contribution. The Deccan spinners were getting grip and turn from the track, especially Amit Mishra (2 for 20) who scalped Shane Watson (13) in his first ball and returned to get rid of Stuart Binny (7) off two ripper of deliveries.

After getting a reprieve, Ajinkya Rahane (6) failed to capitalise as Dale Steyn (2 for 16) got the ball to swing away a bit to induce an edge of Rahane to the wicketkeeper. With regular wickets Deccan managed to keep Rajasthan under check and the visiting team was happy with singles and twos. With Dravid and Shah at the crease, Rajasthan still had hope but Dravid charged Manpreet Gony and slashed hard over point to hand an easy catch to the fielder.

IPL 5: Warner ton buries Deccan Chargers

Hyderabad: David Warner scored a brilliant ton and was involved in a record second wicket stand for Delhi Daredevils (189 off 100) to smash the Deccan Chargers all over the park as Delhi chased down Deccan's total in 16.4 overs. Naman Ojha also found his form back as he smashed the first half-century of the season.

Chasing 188-run target, Delhi got off to a worst possible start as they lost Virender Sehwag in the very first over with just four on the board. Warner and Ojha then took the attack to the opposition. Warner powered Delhi past 100 in just nine overs to set the tone. Warner, who smashed seven fours and three sixes in his quick-fire fifty, added unbeaten 100 runs stand with Naman Ojha in just 55 balls to put Delhi on top. The duo then went on to add a record 189 runs for the second wicket.

Warner lathered as many as seven sixes and ten boundaries to remain unbeaten on 109, which came from just 54 balls. Ojha, who had mixed success with the bat this IPL season, chipped in with a fluent 64 off 46 balls, which included five sixes and two boundaries.

Earlier, Cameron White and Shikhar Dhawan each hammered a brisk half-century to take the Deccan Chargers to a formidable total of 187 for 4. Dhawan scorched to 84 off 49 balls with his dashing innings that included nine boundaries and five sixes while White was equally as effective as he bludgeoned his way to 65 off 40 deliveries as the pair put on 126 runs for the third wicket off just 11.4 overs.

Opting to bat first, Dhawan and Daniel Harris (19) gave Deccan a soldi start as the duo dealt in fours right from the beginning but soon Deccan were reeling at 33 for 2. Morne Morkel made the initial breakthrough when he had Daniel Harris caught as mid-off. First down Kumar Sangakkara was also back into the hut quickly after his miscued pull off Varon Aaron ended up in the safe hands of Shahbaz Nadeem at short mid-wicket.

Then, Dhawan and White then joined hands and brought up the fifty in eight overs. Dhawan notched up 37-ball fifty to lead Deccan innings that was studded with four fours and four sixes. It was raining boundaries as Dhawan and White hammered boundaries all over the park which suddenly turned the momentum in Deccan way. Duo took DC past 100 runs in 13 overs with their powerful batting display.

The 26-year-old Dhawan's fine innings was finally ended when he was run out at the keeper's end attempting a second run thanks to a superb direct hit from Shabaz Nadeem at fine-leg. White continued on his merry way and reached his half-century off 33 balls but was dismissed in the final over. JP Duminy ended the innings with a flourish as he ended not out on 13 off nine balls.

IPL 5: Punjab thrash listless Deccan by 25 runs

 

Hyderabad: An all-round show helped Kings XI Punjab to thrash listless Deccan Chargers by 25 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Deccan were left stranded at 145 for 8 after the completion of 20 overs. There was some fight back offered by Akshath Reddy (24) and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (19), but not enough to take them through. For Punjab - Praveen Kumar, David Hussey and Parvinder Awana claimed two wickets each.

The run-chase for Deccan didn’t get off to a great start as Punjab struck in the second over to remove the in-form Shikhar Dhawan (8) cheaply caught at first slip off Praveen. In the fifth over, Awana got the better of Parthiv Patel, who has been quite inconsistent this season. After scoring a six and four in the same over, Awana made a great comeback to clean up Patel for 17 off 13 balls.

With Daniel Harris still at the crease and Cameron White joining him at the middle and seemed to do some repair work, but David Hussey had other plans. In his first over, Hussey scalped Harris first and then White to reduce Deccan to 72 for 4. Deccan were looking down the barrel and expected their captain to do a rescue act, but Kumar Sangakkara (4) fell in the very next over. The Deccan skipper got a gem of a ball going away a bit that took the edge and was taken beautifully by wicketkeeper Nitin Saini diving to his left. 

Earlier, Mandeep Singh smashed a 48-ball 75 to help Punjab post a dominating 170 for 5 after put into to bat first. The young opener continued with his good run and scored eight fours and three sixes to set the tone for his team at the start. Moreover, Mandeep stitched in 55 runs for the opening wicket with Shaun Marsh.

However, Marsh (22) looked in good touch but was not able to capitalise on the start and was bowled while stepping out to Dhawan off a flighted delivery. Soon after Saini fell to leave Punjab at 58 for 2 in 7.4 overs. But these wickets didn’t deter Mandeep and he kept the scoring rate going along with David Hussey, who hit one six and a four in his 16 runs off equal number of balls.

When Punjab were going steady at 130 in 15 overs, Ashish Reddy got rid of Mandeep when he had his off-stump pegged back while the opener was looking for a big slog. While Azhar Mahmood played a handy nine-ball 14 which included two hits to the boundary before getting run out in the 17th over. But David Miller’s late surge of 28 runs at the end helped Punjab to a big total. For Deccan, Ashish took two wickets while Dhawan and Veer Pratap Singh chipped in with one wicket each.

IPL 5: Nerveless Hodge seals RR a thriller

Rajasthan Royals’ previous four matches against Deccan Chargers had ended in victory, and a rather one-sided rivalry was extended in Jaipur where the home team pulled off a remarkable chase of 197 with five wickets and two balls remaining. Set their stiffest target of the season, Rajasthan were given a strong start from Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane but three wickets to Amit Mishra left them struggling for air. That’s when Brad Hodge proved his versatility; he smashed Dale Steyn for four consecutive fours en route to a nerveless 21-ball 48, and the IPL debutant Dishant Yagnik carved Steyn for successive fours to clinch a thriller. The win kept Rajasthan atop the IPL 5 table, and their reputation as the team to beat in 2012.

When Hodge walked to the middle at the fall of Owais Shah in the 14th over, Rajasthan needed 75 from 40 balls with seven wickets in hand. It was a daunting task, considering after Hodge there were no reputed batsman to follow. But the Australian swung the momentum back with four consecutive fours off Steyn – through point, past square leg, to third man and between the covers.

Then Johan Botha – dropped by Bharat Chipli at point on three – dumped Christian for a big six in the 18th over. Anand Rajan removed Botha with a slower ball, but Hodge smacked a straight four and a sliced six over extra cover to leave the target at 11 off six balls. Hodge carved the first ball from Steyn out to sweeper cover and sprinted two, flicked the second for a single and then Yagnik slapped a short ball to the point boundary to bring the Rajasthan dug-out to its feet. The winning shot came the very next delivery, as Yagnik punched into the covers and the boundary patroller made a mess of it.

This capped a thrilling chase, which had been ignited by Dravid who sped to 42 from 24 balls before being bowled by Christian. Steyn’s first over produced three boundaries, Rajan went for two streaky boundaries, and Dravid smoked Christian for a six before losing his leg stump. Rahane – fresh from a maiden Twenty20 century – contributed a more sedate 17 off 11 balls to the 62-run opening stand. Rajasthan opted for the strategic time-out after six overs, and the asking rate slowly climbed as Christian kept a check on runs and Steyn returned to test Rahane and Ashok Menaria. Rahane – who crossed 300 runs in IPL 5 - broke free with a six off Mishra to take the score to 90 for 1 after ten, meaning Rajasthan needed 108 at the half-way mark. However, attempting to pick up the asking rate against Mishra, Deccan stumbled. Menaria pulled a short ball to midwicket, Rahane skipped out and found the long-off fielder, and Shah – the man on whom the responsibility for a late surge rested – swiped to deep midwicket. Rajasthan still had Hodge, though.

Playing their first match since April 9 – a gap of eight days – Deccan would have backed themselves to win this after piling up 196 for 2. On a lightning-quick outfield, Deccan took at least one boundary off each of the first nine overs and, after a brief hiccup following the exit of their openers, produced a late surge that yielded 53 in the final four overs.

Shikhar Dhawan (52) and Kumar Sangakkara (44) put on 94 in 10. 4 overs, a stand that was snapped by Hodge’s part-time spin. Dhawan fell soon after, but after the strategy break JP Duminy and Christian provided the acceleration. They each hit sixes to get going, and even when the boundaries weren’t located the pair hustled between the wickets – they pinched five doubles – to ensure the platform set by the openers wasn’t wasted. Amit Singh’s third over cost 17, Pankaj Singh was looted for 18 in the penultimate over, and Duminy hit his fourth and fifth sixes in the final over to speed to a half-century in 24 balls. His splendid innings grabbed the initiative away from Rajasthan and resulted in Deccan posting a big total. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough.