Earlier, Amit Mishra opened the attack and bowled Madhya Pradesh Ranji opener Mohnish Mishra, who came in place of the injured VVS Laxman, with a googly in the fourth ball of the innings. Deccan Chargers skipper Gilchrist (24 off 14 balls) made yet another explosive start. Sarabhjit Ladda, the second leg spinner, got his big wicket. Herschelle Gibbs hit a 26-ball 31 but his innings was cut short thanks to a fine catch all rounder Moises Henriques, who came in place of out-of-form TM Dilshan. The aggressive Symonds was also out to Henriques and Deccan Charges were reduced to 103/4. However, Rohit Sharma and T Suman were associated in a 60-run stand for the fifth wicket. Sharma played a hard-hitting and fast-paced innings for his 30-ball 45 while Suman stayed till the end to score another useful 19-ball 29 as the Deccan Chargers put up a competitive 171/6.

The Chargers captured the big scalp of Virender Sehwag in the fourth over and he only made a seven-ball three, caught by Herschelle Gibbs off Pragyan Ojha. David Warner smashed a 33-ball 57 before he was run out by a throw from short fine leg by RP Singh while AB de Villiers missed a full toss to be bowled by Rahul Sharma for 27. Deccan Chargers bounced back into the match by taking the wickets of Mithun Manhas and Moises Henriques. Dinesh Karthik kept Delhi Daredevils’ hopes alive with a 27-ball 46 (4×4, 2×6) but Andrew Symonds swung the match in Deccan Chargers’s favour by taking the wickets of Karthik and Amit Mishra off successive deliveries. Vaas bowled a great last over to seal the win for the Deccan Chargers.

Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.

Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist slammed a 12-ball 33 hitting two sixes off Sreesanth 51 runs today. But Gilchrist’s innings was cut short when he top edged left-arm seamer Shalabh Srivastava and was caught at short mid-wicket by Jayawardene. Deccan Chargers suffered a setback when VVS Laxman got injured in a strange circumstance when Srivastava threw the ball wildly from mid-on that got Laxman’s forearm. The batsman had to retire hurt for 10.  Although Rohit Sharma (run out) and left-hander Anirudh Singh were out cheaply, Herschelle Gibbs made a 23-ball 23, Andrew Symonds struck his second successive half century (38-ball 53) and T Suman played a cameo knock of 26 (22 balls) as Decccan Chargers reached 170/7.

Kings XI Punjab were off to a disastrous start as purple cap holder left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas swung the ball late and captured two top order wickets (Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh) as MS Bisla was run out to have Punjab reeling at 22 for 3 in the fifth over. Ravi Bopara, Kings XI Punjab’s main run-getter, could score only a 32-ball 38 before he was caught in the deep of off-spinnner Rohit Sharma. West Indian opener Adrian Barath, on his IPL debut, made only seven before falling to local hero Pragyan Ojha. However, it was left-hander Irfan Pathan (60 off 29 balls) who fought a lonely battle to create some element of hope for the Kings XI Punjab with his lusty hitting. Pathan took the match to the last over. But his fine rearguard innings ended when the surprise last over choice bowler Jaskaran Singh had him caught at deep mid-wicket. The twentieth over that Jaskaran bowled was incidentally his first of the game.

Kings XI Punjab have so far lost all their first three matches while Deccan Chargers have finally notched a home victory in three seasons of IPL.

Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.

Squad: Adam Gilchrist (captain & wicket-keeper), Harmeet Singh, Bodapati Sumanth, Azhar Bilakhia, Herschelle Gibbs, Ryan Harris, VVS Laxman, Mitchell Marsh, Monish Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Kemar Roach, Ashish Reddy, Venugopal Rao, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Anirudh Singh, RP Singh, Dwayne Smith, Tirumalasetti Suman, Andrew Symonds, Ravi Teja, Chaminda Vaas, Arjun Yadav

Strengths & Weaknesses:

Their biggest strength continues to be their batting line-up. VVS Laxman was said to be the one weak link there but his performances in South Africa last year combined with his experiences in the English county circuit have more than made up for his shortcomings. He now plays the pivotal role in the innings while the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma have the license to go after the bowling.

Symonds and Gibbs are two big names for them who haven’t yet produced the magic that we know they can. They have had the odd innings which lit up the games but a consistent run of good form throughout the tournament is what is being asked of these two fantastic players. Gilchrist got his last time around ending the highest run getter with 495 runs.

Their bowling really clicked in the helpful conditions in Africa but this year’s tournament may reveal more weak areas this time around. RP Singh was the Purple Cap winner with 23 wickets to his name but this time around he is not in the same kind of rhythm and form, while the Indian wickets can be a back breaker for any bowler in the T20 game. Chaminda Vaas is now slower than most but has lost none of his guile though it remains to be seen how much of him they will use.

The one player the Deccan Chargers will miss this time round is Fidel Edwards. The West Indian fast bowler did good damage with the ball in South Africa but injury will keep him out this time around. In that sense, their new purchase at this year’s auction should be an ideal replacement. In his short stint in international cricket, Kemar Roach has made a name for himself and the best we know of him is when he rattled the Australian captain Ricky Ponting with his pace earlier in the winter. A repeat performance in the IPL will raise his and his team’s stock much higher.

Their home matches will not be played in Hyderabad due to political problems but in Vishakhapatnam, Cuttack and Nagpur. Now that is good in two ways – one, the teams hasn’t had much luck in Hyderabad in the first IPL season or even the 2009 Champions League T20. So a change of locale should suit them just like last year. And two, the pitch at Hyderbad is one of the best batting pitches in the country. Playing elsewhere would afford their spinners much more turn and Pragyan Ojha will be rubbing his hands in glee at the prospect.

Note: This is an extract from the Deccan Charger preview first published at www.cricketworld.com. To read the full article, click here.