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The Deccan Chargers held their nerve to clinch a thriller against the Kings XI Punjab, in a game that had as many as four momentum shifts in the space of three-and-a-half hours. First Deccan looked like getting a massive score before Punjab restricted them to 170, and in the second innings they looked like winning by a huge margin thanks to a spineless display by the Kings XI top order, before Irfan Pathan managed to give them a scare with a quickfire 60.

The match began with Deccan looking for their first win ever against Punjab, as all four of their previous outings against the Kings XI had resulted in losses. The 2009 Champions were also hoping they could record a long overdue first ever 'home' win, after going win-less at home in all their IPL and Champions League games thus far. Similarly, the Kings XI were looking for their first win of the season, and hence no matter who the victor, it was going to be a first. Kings XI's skipper Kumar Sangakkara opted to field first after winning the toss, probably a decision influenced by the two losses batting first in the tournament. The big news was diminutive West Indian youngster, Adrian Barath, making his IPL debut for the Kings XI, and the overseas man who had to be benched was Yusuf Abdulla. Mohammad Kaif was replaced by seamer Shalabh Srivastava to restore balance to the XI.

In Abdulla's absence, it was an all-Indian bowling attack, spearheaded by the medium-pace duo of left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan and the maverick S Sreesanth. While Pathan got some prodigious swing going right away, Sreesanth's length deliveries were hammered by Adam Gilchrist for 2 fours and 2 sixes in the second over of the match. Shalabh Srivastava's over from Pathan's end produced two more consecutive boundaries from Gilly, and with him striking the ball brilliantly at 33 from just 11 deliveries, it looked like he might emulate the devastation his former Aussie co-opener of umpteen years, Matthew Hayden had wreaked earlier in the day for Chennai with his mighty ‘Mongoose'. That was not to be as Srivastava got a lucky break as Gilchrist rushed into a pull and top-edged a ballooning catch to midwicket.

In the next over, Srivastava, probably giddy after dismissing a legend, took a shy at the stumps from mid-on to miss by an immense distance, but struck Laxman hard on the right forearm, and the Indian test batsman had to walk off retired hurt, wearing a grimace of agonizing pain. This brought together explosive overseas superstars Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds. They ensured they got a boundary or a six every over to keep the runrate consistently hovering between 9 and 10. Symonds took full toll in Sreesanth's comeback over, cracking a six and two fours, to raise the team hundred on the stroke of the halfway mark. With a fair bit of batting to come, Deccan looked well set to take the total past the 200-run mark.

That's when the slide started. The 11th over from Yuvraj produced a much-needed double break as first Gibbs missed an attempted slog, and the ball crashed into timber, and then Mahela Jayawardene threw down the stumps from point to get rid of Rohit Sharma at the non-striker's end. Anirudh Singh edged Bipul Sharma to the keeper to give the Kings XI a fourth wicket.

With virtually half the side back in the hutch (including Laxman), Punjab slipped in 3 quick overs that yielded a mere 12 runs. At the end of the 15th over, at 125/4, what had once looked 200 now appeared to be heading significantly lower. The Chargers needed Symonds to last right till the end if they were to cross 180, but he holed out of Yuvraj's bowling to long-on where, as confirmed by the television replays, Bipul Sharma had taken a terrific clean catch. Tirumalasetti Suman and Chaminda Vaas tried their best to maximize the score, and eventually, Deccan ended up with 170, by no means a small total, but a far cry from what they looked like getting at one stage.

Despite the inclusion of Adrian Barath, Punjab decided to continue to entrust the opening duties to the in-form combo of Bopara and Bisla, who had scored 77 and 75 respectively in the previous game. Bopara started on a great note, hitting two fours off the first two deliveries of the innings from the Purple Cap holder Chaminda Vaas. The opening pair could not continue the surge, however, as Vaas' next over produced two dismissals, Bisla getting run out and Vaas' Sri Lanka teammate of many years, Sangakkara cleaned up for a duck with a peach of a delivery. With the boundaries drying up and the required run rate rapidly rising, Yuvraj tried a poor shot and ended up giving the cover fielder practice of catching skiers; and in the process gifted Vaas his second wicket of the day to extend his purple patch. At 27/3 at the end of the 6 PowerPlay overs, Punjab were looking down the wrong end of the barrel, and had squandered all the momentum gained at the end of the previous innings to the rival side.

A lot depended on Jayawardene and Bopara, and they blew it, with the Sri Lankan trying to sweep Symonds and getting bowled, and Bopara getting caught at the midwicket fence in the quest of a few big ones. In between, Barath completed a disappointing IPL debut, managing to score only 7 before holing out in the deep.

That left at the crease Piyush Chawla and Irfan Pathan, and the latter decided to give the near-impossible 103 from 48 a shot, and actually made a match of it. He started the onslaught with a classical six over long-on, the textbook version, and not the stereotypical T20 slog, with feet dancing down the track to come to the pitch of the ball and arms coming down on the ball hard, but in rhythm with the beautiful motion of the batsman's form. He then sent Vaas into the stands at long-on as well, and his intentions were clear. With 67 needed in the final four overs, Chawla got out to RP Singh, but Pathan creamed two fours and smacked two monstrous sixes in the same over to keep Punjab in the hunt and give Gilchrist some unexpected sweat. Pathan then whacked a four and a six in Singh's next over as well, and 19 were needed off the final over. One would have thought that 19 meant a dead certain win for the bowling side, but seeing Pathan's murderous mood, and that he was on strike, meant anything was still possible.

The miraculous win, however, was not to be today, as Pathan did manage to middle the ball, and it would have sailed over the ropes had he not picked out Andrew Symonds at deep midwicket. Sreesanth swatted 3 fours in the next 5 balls, but that did not add up to 19, and the Deccan Chargers escaped by 6 runs in what should have been an easy win.

Andrew Symonds was the deserving Man-of-the-Match for his allround display of 53 runs and 1-22, and Deccan now move up the points table to fourth. After the disappointing start in the opening game, they have got the winning momentum back with two wins on the trot, and now once more look like the competitive side they were last season.

The Kings XI would be disappointed with their bits-and-pieces display, in particular their woeful top and middle order batting. Had even one among Nos. 2 to 6 hung around for a while, they might have had a chance of registering a maiden win. The problem for them has been that not all departments are clicking together. If the bowlers excelled in the first game after a lackluster batting display, the batting came good spectacularly in the second only to have the bowlers squander away the opportunity. Today as well, they were poor in the first halves of both innings and tried valiantly to resurrect in the second halves. It is important that the do not lose heart, for it is a long tournament, and they do have an outside chance of making the semis despite the three consecutive losses.

Mini Scorecard:

Deccan Chargers: 170/7 (20.0 overs)
Andrew Symonds 53 (38 balls; 3x4; 3x6)            Yuvraj Singh 4-0-21-2
Adam Gilchrist 33 (12 balls; 4x4; 2x6)                Irfan Pathan 3-0-16-1

Kings XI Punjab: 164/8 (20.0 overs)
Irfan Pathan 60 (29 balls; 3x4; 5x6)                   Chaminda Vaas 4-0-27-2
Ravi Bopara 38 (32 balls; 5x4)                           Jaskaran Singh 1-0-12-1

Also Read: Match Preview: Mumbai Indians vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore

File Photograph Copyright: Michael Henn

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