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Gibbs, Gilchrist give Deccan Chargers their fourth win

Herschelle Gibbs and skipper Adam Gilchrist struck hurricane knocks to carry Deccan Chargers to their fourth straight win in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), beating Chennai Super Kings by six wickets at Kingsmead on Monday.

Put in to bat, Super Kings’ Matthew Hayden bludgeoned the Chargers’ pace attack with an explosive 49 off 35 balls before Jacob Oram (41) rained fours and sixes towards the end to take them to a competitive total of 165.

But there was no stopping the Chargers, who reached the target with three balls to spare.

Chargers were off to a blistering start with in-form Gilchrist and Gibbs hammering the bowlers all over the rope. Gilchrist churned out the bowlers with a murderous intent, hitting five fours and three sixes for his 19-ball 44.

The two brought up the fastest 50 of the tournament which came off just 21 balls.

They added 67 runs for the opening wicket before Suresh Raina broke the partnership, picking up Gilchrist off Muttiah Murlitharan.

Gilchrist’s fall slowed the run rate but Rohit Sharma, who came after the dismissal of V.V.S. Laxman, concocted 33 runs with Gibbs, who dropped anchor after the initial burst. The Chargers looked to lose the momentum when they lost Rohit and Dwayne Smith in a space of 16 runs. But Gibbs kept going at one end with poise.

They needed eight runs in the last over, but Gibbs smashed a huge six off Lakshmipathy Balaji’s first ball to make it easy for Chargers.

Earlier, the Chennai team lost Parthiv Patel but Hayden went on with his relentless fireworks at the other end. He found a complementing partner in Raina and they added 63 runs for the second wicket. However, both bastmen got lifelines.

Hayden, the top scorer in the tournament, and Raina were on roll before the latter was caught and bowled by Sharma. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (22) and Hayden kept the scoreboard ticking.

Chennai were going hammer and tongs when Gilchrist introduced left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.

Ojha, who was instrumental in Charger’s win against Mumbai Indians, did not disappoint and dismissed first Dhoni and then Hayden in the same over.

Ojha (2-11) surprisingly did not bowl after two overs, though Gilchrist later admitted it to be a miscalculation.

The quick fall of the two stalwarts arrested the run flow but Jacob Oram down the order played an unbeaten blitz innings that included four fours and two sixes to coast Chennai to a challenging total.