| Ground: | Barabati Stadium, Cuttack |
| Player: | AC Gilchrist, VVS Laxman, A Symonds, S Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh |
Deccan Chargers broke their home jinx and a brave late surge from Irfan Pathan to beat King XI by six runs in the DLF IPL 3 at the Barabati stadium here on Friday night.
Deccan had never won a home game against Punjab in four attempts and when Irfan Pathan launched himself into the attack it appeared that the record would stay. From a seemingly lost cause, Irfan biffed 60 runs at breath taking speed as King XI looked to snatch an unlikely win. One of the cleanest strikers in the country, Irfan cashed on to some ordinary bowling from R.P.Singh to smash 34 runs from his two overs which included three sixes to bring Kings XI within a sniff of victory.
From 68 for six in the 12th over, Pathans pyrotechnics ensured that the match as a contest lasted till the 20th over. With 19 needed in the last over by Jaskaran Singh, Pathans brave knock ended when the man-of-the-match Andrew Symonds held a good catch under pressure. Sreesanth smacked three boundaries in the last over but it wasnt enough as Deccan won by six runs.
Kings XI had a disastrous start, Vaas subtle variations accounted for his captain Sangakkara for naught after Bilsa was run-out by Suman. Wickets fell at regular intervals as the middle order failed to ascertain itself. It was another collective failure for the trio of Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Yuvraj and only Ravi Bopra showed the stomach for a fight with a 32 ball 38.
The Deccan spinner chocked the run flow and lured the batsmen to play the big shots to get out trouble. The big Andrew Symonds removed the dangerous Jayawardene and Rohit Sharma snared Bopara as Punjab slipped to 68 for six in the 12th over. But Pathan in company of the tail managed to give Deccan a run for their money.
Earlier, Gilchirst started like a runaway train. Sreesanth bore the brunt of his fury as the Australian clobbered him for 24 runs in the second over which included two sixes. Gilchrist fell against run of play top-edging a pull from Srivatasava to Jayawardene. But Gilly had laid the foundation for a big total and Laxman tenure at the crease was cut short by an injury to his wrist from a wayward throw from Srivastsava. Gibbs joined Symonds and the two merrily took the homeside to 100 at the end of the 10th over. But the innings went into a terminal decline once Yuvraj was introduced. Gibbs attempted heave over midwicket saw his timber being rearranged by Yuvrajs arm ball and off the next ball, Rohit Sharma was run-out. Bisla, Chawla and Yuvraj slipped in a few quite overs as Deccan appeared to have lost its way. Sreesanths second spell went for 16 runs as Symonds smote a six over long on picking up the pacers slow ball with ridiculous ease. After the big mans departure, Suman and Vaas struck a few meaty blows but Deccan fell short by at least 20 runs but in the in the end it didnt matter.