Banglore Royals Challengers vs Deccan Chargers - Match 56 - SuperSport Park, Centurion

The last league match between Deccan Chargers and Banglore Royal Challengers was just a formality as both the teams had already qualified for the semi - finals. However this match was important as the winner would be setting up a semi-final clash with the Chennai Super Kings and the looser of this match had to face Delhi Daredevils. Kumble who called right decided to bat first and Banglore innings was dominated by one man, the 19 year old Manish Pandey. It was Pandey's day as he became the first Indians to score a ton in the IPL and was awarded the man of the match for his innings. Pandey who was dropped by RP Singh when he was on 2 made the Chargers pay for their mistake. He made 114 from 73 balls hitting 10 fours and 4 sixers. A few aspects which needs to be mentioned about his innings were his hard running and waiting for the ball to come to him before going for his shots. Van de Merwe(23 from 18 balls) and Virat Kohli(19 from 9 balls) provided some good support for Pandey. The fact that around 106 runs came from the last ten overs was a testimony of Deccan bowler's suffering.

Deccan Chargers had a solid start to their chase with a firs wicket partnership of 68 runs before Gilchrist was accounted by Akhil. Most of the Deccan batsman lost their wickets when they looked set for a bigger innings. Suman(12), Symonds(18), R Sharma(12) got the starts but failed to capitalize on it. Gibbs played brilliantly for his 60 but in the end Deccan fell short by 12 runs handing Banglore a crucial morale boosting victory.

Toss
Banglore Royal Challengers won the toss and chose to bat first.

Brief Scores
Banglore Royal Challengers - 170/4 in 20 overs(M Pandey - 114*, V der Merwe - 28, P Ojha - 2/32, A Symonds - 1/15)
Deccan Chargers - 158/8 in 20 overs(H Gibbs - 60, A Symonds - 18, B Akhil - 2/18, A Kumble - 2/23)

Result
Banglore Royal Challengers won by 12 runs.

Kolkatta Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers - Match 48 - New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Nothing seems to be going right for the Kolkatta knight riders this season. In the initial matches they failed to put up a good batting performance, but the bowling did them in this match and the last match. Kolkatta's batsmen contributed well after being put in by the Deccan and put up a very good total of 160 in their quota of 20 overs. McCullum(20 from 18 balls) and Ganguly(33 from 41 balls) provided a very good platform on which the likes of Hussey and Hodge built their innings. Hodge scored 48 from 41 balls, while Hussey played a dazzling knock of 43 from just 17 balls which helped to propel the Kolkatta score in the final overs.
Needing 160 runs for victory, Deccan made a solid start with a 68 run first wicket partnership between Gilchrist(43 from 31 balls) and Gibbs(28 from 34 balls). Suman played a useful knock in the middle overs scoring 31 from 24 balls. But with the wicket of Symonds(18 from 13 balls) falling at the end of 17th over. It was Rohit Sharma who guided Deccan to victory in the final overs. Deccan needed 32 runs from the final three overs and beautiful cameo from Rohit(32 from 13 balls) helped Deccan clinch a last ball victory with a six from Rohit's bat.

Toss
Deccan Chargers won the toss and chose to field

Brief Scores
Kolkatta Kinght Riders - 160/5 in 20 overs(B Hodge - 48, D Hussey - 43, R Harris - 2/20, R Sharma - 1/15)
Deccan Chargers - 166/4 in 20 overs (A Gilchrist - 43, R Sharma - 31*, M Karthik - 1/12, B Hodge - 1/23)

Result
Deccan Chargers won the match by 6 wickets.

Deccan Chargers Vs Rajasthan Royals - Match 40 - De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberly

Deccan Chargers conquered the Rajasthan Royals quite easily in an encounter at De Beers Diamond Oval. Deccan Chargers made a shaky start after deciding to bat first. Gilchrist was the first casuality when he was adjudged leg before after scoring 10 runs. Suman(29 of 19 balls) looked good for a big score, but gave his wicket away to Trivedi, The loss of Rohit Sharma's wicket just at the stroke of strategic time out pushed Deccan to the edge of misery. The wicket of Symonds who was going great guns scoring 30 of just 19 balls just after the strategic time out came as a big blow, but a stellar batting performance from Dwyane Smith helped Deccan set a target of 167 for Rajasthan. Smith scored 47 runs from 32 balls and was involved in crucial partnerships with Chaminda Vass(20 from 15 balls) and Venugopal Rao(12 from 7 balls). On the bowling front Yusuf Pathan grabbed 3 wickets and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets for Rajasthan.

Rajasthan chasing a 167 never looked in hunt as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Smith, Carseldine, Ojha and the big hitting Yusuf fell without contributing much to the total and total reading 74/4 in the twelveth over nothing looked to go right for the Royals. The innings of Asnodkar was the only consolation for Royals. But with Asnodkar falling after making a patient 44, all the hopes of Royals were lost. The Rajasthan Royals were finally bowled out for 113 and lost the match by huge margin of 53 runs.

Toss

Deccan Chargers won the toss and elected to bat

Brief Scores

Deccan Chargers - 166/7 in 20 0vers(D Smith - 47, A Symonds - 30, Y Pathan - 3/34, R Jadeja - 2/26)

Rajasthan Royals - 113 all out in 19.3 overs(Asnodkar - 44, R Jadeja - 19, R Sharma - 3/12, C Vass - 2/19)

Result

Deccan chargers won the match by 53 runs

Deccan Chargers VS Chennai Super Kings - Match 29 - Buffalo Park, East London

Chennai Super Kings are on a roll, winning their third consecutive match, which propels them from seventh spot in the points table a week back to the first spot. Almost everything this match went Chennai's way - Dhoni won the toss, decided to bat and the openers backed his decision by providing a wonderful opening partnership. Hayden blasted 43 from 26 balls, while Vijay made a solid 31 from 33 balls. Once the wickets of openers fell, Raina and Dhoni took over and treated the crowd for their money with some excellent display of strokes. Raina provided the much needed momentum after the strategic time out scoring 32 of just 19 balls, while Dhoni came to form with a brilliant, unbeaten 58 from 37 balls. Some good bowling at the death by RP Singh restricted Chennai to 178 from a posistion where they were looking good for 200.

Chasing 179 for victory Deccan started catastrophically loosing three wickets for just one run on the board. Gilchrist was out leg before the very first ball of the innings from Albie Morkel. In the next over Sudeep Tyagi rattled the wood work of Gibbs and in the third over VVS Laxman flicked one straight to the fielder. With their top three gone for "DUCKS", the lucky Dwyane Smith who was dropped twice of consecutive balls counter - attacked with some mighty blows. Smith along with Sharma brought the scoreboard from 1/3 to 73/3, before Jataki made a double strike removing both Sharma and Smith in the same over. With the return of dangerous Smith to pavillion, the Chennai bowlers ran through the remaining batting line up and the Deccan Chargers ended up loosing all their wickets in 14.4 overs with just 100 runs on the board. Jakati once again bowled brilliantly and returned with the figures of 4/22. Murali will be on a hat-trick the next match and ended up with figures of 2/11. The only worrying factor for Chennai would be their catching. Chennai dropped loads of easy catches that too of consecutive deliveries. If only Chennai could have held on to these catches, the match would have been over much earlier!

TOSS

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bat

BRIEF SCORES

Chennai Super Kings - 178/3 in 20 overs(Dhoni - 58*, Hayden - 43, SM Shohaib - 1/14, T Suman - 1/29)

Deccan Chargers - 100 all out in 14.4 overs(D Smith - 49, R Sharma - 21, S Jataki - 4/22, M Muralitharan - 2/11)

RESULT

Chennai Super Kings won the match by 78 runs.

Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils - Match 21 - SuperSport Park,Centurion - Bulletin

A brilliant partnership between Tilkaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik helped Delhi win against the so far undefeated Deccan Chargers. Chasing a moderate total of 149 for victory Delhi had a moderate start with openers adding 30 runs for the first wicket, before RP Singh and SM Shoaib took three quick wickets which reduced Delhi to 49/3. But for the first time in this season Delhi WicketKeeper Dinesh Karthik showed some solidity and along with consistent Dilshan, took Delhi close to victory. Dilshan scored 52 off 46 balls and Karthik contributed 41 making use of just 30 deliveries.

Earlier in the match, Deccan started off poorly after being put in by the Delhi Skipper. Deccan first lost the dangerous Gilchrist for 8 followed by the in - form Gibbs who was out without troubling the scorers. The middle order chipped in with useful contributions, but most of the middle order got out after settling in. A blazing 48 from 28 balls from Dwayne Smith helped Deccan reach a reasonable score of 148. Dirk Nannes took two wickets, that of openers, and finsihed a brilliant spell with the figures of 2/16.

Toss:
Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field

Teams:
Deccan Chargers
A Gilchrist, H Gibbs, A Bilakhia, R Sharma, D Smith, YV Rao, T Suman, P Ojha, RP SIngh, SM Shoaib, F Edwards
Delhi Daredvils
G Gambhir, V Shewag, T Dilshan, AB de Villiers, M Manhas, D Karthik, D Nannes, D Vettori, A Nehra, A Mishra, P Sangwan

Brief Scores:
Deccan Chargers - 149/9 in 20 overs(D Smith - 48, T Suman - 23, D Nannes - 2/16, A Nehra - 2/30)
Delhi Daredevils - 150/4 in 18.4 overs(T Dilshan - 52*, D Karthik - 41, SM Shoain - 2/20, RP Singh - 1/20)

Result:
Delhi Daredevils won by 6 wickets

Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers - Match 16 - Kingsmead, Durban - Bulletin

Deccan Chargers are on a roll after defeating Chennai Super Kings and making their tally four out of four. The wooden spoon winner have come out all guns blazing in this season of IPL and the results are here to see. Gilchrist and Gibbs were on fire and literally destroyed the Chennai bowling after being set a target of 166 runs. Gilchrist was in punishing mood as he sent the cricket ball flying to all parts of the ground scoring 44 off just 19 balls which included five 4's and three massive sixers. With all his regular bowlers being hit out of the park, Dhoni threw the ball to part-timer Suresh Raina hoping for a magic. And magic did happen with Raina picking up the wickets of Gilchrist and Laxman in successive overs. But the damage was already done. With run-rate at a manageable level and wickets in hand Gibbs guided Deccan to a emphatic six wicket victory.

Earlier in the day Mathew Hayden's 49 and Jacob Oram's 41 helped Chennai reach a respectable score of 165, after being put in by Deccan. But the inability to forge good partnerships and good bowling from Deccan spinners meant that Chennai could never really go into the full throttle mode. Raina and Dhoni made some useful contributions but were out when they started to look good for bigger scores. This season so far for Chennai has been a season of missed opportunities. They have been in winning positions in most of the matches but let the opportunity slip. If Chennai wants to better or atleast repeat their last year's performance, they have to make sure they grab all the opportunities.

Toss
Deccan won the toss and elected to field

Teams
Deccan Chargers
A Gilchrist, H Gibbs, VVS Laxman, R Sharma, Dwyane Smith, Venugopal Rao Rao, A Bilakhia,
P Ojha, RP Singh, SM Shohaib, F Edwards
Chennai Super Kings
P Patel, M Hayden, S Raina, J Oram, M S Dhoni, A Morkel, S Badrinath, J Sharma, L Balaji,
M Muralitharan, M Gony

Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings - 165/6 in 20 overs(Hayden - 49, J Oram - 41*, P Ojha - 2/11,
R Sharma - 1/18)
Deccan Chargers - 169/4 in 19.3 overs(H gibbs - 69*, A Gilchrist - 44, S Raina - 2/18,
M Muralitharan - 1/17)

Result
Deccan Chargers won by 6 wickets

Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians - Match 12 - Kingsmead, Durban - Bulletin

It was a battle for supremacy when Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians, the two undefeated teams of this IPL, met to decide a winner. Gilchrist won the toss and decided to bat first in what looked to be a beautiful batting track at Kingsmead, Durban. Gilchrist started the innings off in a blazing style with Gibbs playing the anchor role. With the dismissal of Gilchrist in the end of seventh over, D Smith took over from where Gilli left. Deccan were all set for a 200+ score, when the script turned awfully wrong. Barvo and Malinga bowled brilliantly spells and made sure, the target was well within their reach. The run out of Gibbs was the turning point, as he was looking to take his game to the next level. In the end Deccan were restricted to just 168, not a bad score but less than what they were looking for.

With the batting line up which Mumbai has, 169 in 20 overs can be considered a easy target on a pitch which was good for batting, but unfortunately for the Mumbai Indians, Jayasuriya got out early in the innings, which helped RP Singh regain the purple cap. Sachin and Duminy slowly consolidated the innings before Sachin was out in the eleventh over with the scoreboard reading 86. Mumbai always lagged behind Deccan with respect to run rate, Ojha's brilliant bowling and wickets falling at regular intervals made sure that Mumbai fell short 12 runs at the end of the day.

Toss:
Deccan Chargers won the toss and elected to Bat

Teams:
Mumbai Indians
S Jayasuriya, S Tendulkar, S Dhawan, JP Duminy, D Bravo, A Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, P Shah, L Malinga, Dhawal Kulkarni
Deccan Chargers
A Gilchrist, H Gibbs, VVS Laxman, R Sharma, Dwyane Smith, Venugopal Rao Rao, Harmeet Singh, P Ojha, RP SIngh, B Ravi Teja, F Edwards

Brief Scores:
Deccan Chargers - 168/9 in 20 overs(H Gibbs - 58, A Gilchrist - 35, D Smith - 35, L Malinga - 3/19, D Bravo - 3/34)
Mumbai Indians - 156/7 in 20 overs( JP Duminy - 47, S Tendulkar - 36, P Ojha - 3/21,
RP Singh - 2/27, F Edwards - 2/27)

Result:
Deccan Chargers won by 12 runs

Deccan Chargers Vs Banglore Royal Challengers - Match 8 - Newlands, Cape Town - Bulletin

Gilchrist's blitzkrieg combined with Rohit Sharma's sensible batting powered Deccan to a 24 run victory against the Banglore Royal Challengers in the Match 8 of DLF IPL 2. Both the teams which finished the previous edition of IPL at the bottom of points table, had a very good start to this season and were looking to take their game one notch higher. Deccan Chargers won the toss and started brilliantly adding 46 runs for the first wicket in just around 4 overs, the destroyer in chief being none other than the retired Aussie veteran Gilchrist. The wickets of Gibbs and Laxman fell at quick succession and with Deccan looking like losing their way at 66/2, the in-form man Rohit Sharma came to the crease. If Gilchrist's Innings was a Wham-Bham blitzkrieg, Rohit's was a well measured, well paced and a sensible innings. When Gilchrist was sending the Royal Challengers for a lether hunt, Rohit sensibly rotated the strike and in the process got accustomed to the nature of the wicket. Once well set Rohit took his game to the next level hocking Kumble for three sixers in one over. Once Gilchrist fell in the 14th over Rohit made sure that the momentum is not lost, and Deccan ended up making 184 loosing six wickets at the end of their innings.

Needing 185 to win at more than 9 runs per over, it seemed to be an herculean task, for Royal Challengers, which required a brilliant start combined with some sensible batting. With Jesse Ryder loosing his stumps to Fiedel Edwards the very first ball and wickets falling regularly, Royal Challengers were virtually eliminated from the contest. With the run rate touching 15 runs per over Rahul Dravid played brilliantly for his 48, to reclaim the orange cap. Dravid's innings and Virat Kohli's late burst weren't enough and Royal Challengers fell short by 24 runs. Having lost two games in a row now, Royal Challengers have to pull their socks up in order to stay in contention for the semis. On the other hand Deccan having won both the games will be looking to maintain the momentum in the next few games.

Toss:
Deccan won the toss and elected to Bat

Teams:
Banglore Royal Challengers
J Kallis, R Uthappa, K Pieterson, R Taylor, R Dravid, V Kohli, R Bishnoi, P Kumar, KV Sharma, Dale Steyn, A Kumble
Deccan Chargers
A Gilchrist, H Gibbs, VVS Laxman, R Sharma, S Styris, YV Rao, Harmeet Singh, P Ojha, RP SIngh, B Ravi Teja, F Edwards

Brief Scores:
Deccan Chargers - 184/6 in 20 overs(A Gilchrist - 71, R Sharma - 52, K Pieterson - 2/31, D Steyn - 1/21)
Banglore Royal Challengers - 160/8 in 20 overs(V Kohli - 50, R Dravid - 48, S Styris - 3/32, RP Singh - 2/17)

Result:
Deccan Chargers won by 24 runs.

Deccan Chargers Vs Kolkatta Knight Riders - Match 4 - Newlands, Cape Town - Bulletin

Match 4 of the DLF IPL 2, can be dubbed as a match between the two underdogs. It was Kolkatta Knight Riders, who finished sixth at the previous edition of IPL, taking on Deccan Chargers, who got the wooden spoon last year. Both teams had changed their captains and hoped something better happens during this season of IPL. McCullum, called it right at the toss and decided to bat first. The Knight Riders opened with the explosive McCullum and Gayle known for their power hitting capabilities, but McCullum's decision to bat first began to backfire, when he gloved poor ball going down the leg side off RP Singh. Gayle played one shot too many and was caught at long on by Harmeet Singh of the bowling of RP Singh. Dada struggled and was out caught at slips after scoring 1 run of 12 balls giving Harmeet Singh his maiden IPL wicket. Brad Hodge showed some resistance scoring 31 off 34 balls, but apart from Hodge no batsman bothered to stay in the crease for long. RP Singh rattled the sticks of Ishant Sharma and Dinda to bundle the Kolkatta Knight Riders for a meagre score of 101.

With 102 runs required from 20 overs at a asking run - rate of just 5.15 runs per over Deccan Chargers had it easy with Gibbs, unbeaten on 43 from 26 balls, and Rohit Sharma, 36 from 32 balls, taking them home to a comfortable 8 wicket victory with 6.5 overs to spare. Gilchrist's wicket to Dinda and Laxman's run out were the only consolation to the Kolkatta Knight Riders who otherwise had a terrible match. Its time for the Kolkatta Knight Riders to concentrate on their game and not the various theories of captaincy. The various theories put forward will be useful if and only if there is some performance on the field.

Toss:
Kolkatta Knight Riders won the toss and elected to Bat

Teams:
Kolkatta Knight Riders
C Gayle, B McCullum, S Ganguly, B Hodge, A Chopra, LR Shukla, M Henriques, A Agarkar, M Karthik, I Sharma, A Dinda
Deccan Chargers
A Gilchrist, H Gibbs, VVS Laxman, R Sharma, S Styris, YV Rao, Harmeet Singh, P Ojha, RP Singh, B Ravi Teja, F Edwards

Brief Scores:
Kolkatta Knight Riders - 101 all out in 19.4 overs(B Hodge - 31, A Chopra - 11, RP Singh - 4/22, A Salvi - 1/17)
Deccan Chargers - 104/2 in 13.1 overs(H Gibbs - 43*, R Sharma - 36*, Dinda - 1/24)

Result:
Deccan Chargers won by 8 wickets with 6.5 overs to go.