That's Six!

HYDERABAD: It was yet another dismal performance from the Deccan Chargers. It suffered its fifth straight defeat at home as Mumbai Indians notched up it’s sixth straight win with a 25-run verdict in the DFL-Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.

Sri Lankan pace bowler Dilhara Fernando’s double strike in the fifth over of the innings — forcing the dangerous Adam Gilchrist to slash to third man and trapping Rohit Sharma leg before — effectively short-circuited whatever hopes the host had entertained.

Bravo strikes

Before this eventful over, Dwayne Bravo helped the momentum shift sending back Shahid Afridi for a duck — mistiming a big hit to send the crowd into stunned silence.

Then, it was a question of the inevitable being only delayed by the fighting knocks from Venugopala Rao (57, 38b, 4x4, 3x6) and D.B. Ravi Teja (37, 27b, 2x4, 3x6).

Earlier, when Sanath Jayasuriya (36, 6x4, 2x6) was on fire Gilchrist may have pondered the advisability of his decision to insert the opposition.

Hitting back

But, to his captain’s delight, Venugopal, who was brought on in the third over, fought back well after being swept twice by Jayasuriya to lure him into a third one and see the star striker give the deep square-leg a simple catch.

Shahid Afridi sent back Sachin Tendulkar when he had to go for a big stroke.

Then, southpaw Abhishek Nayar (38, 3x4, 2x6) took charge with some authentic strokes — two huge sixes off Afridi and R.P. Singh being the pick. In the company of the more elegant Dwayne Bravo (30, 17b, 2x4, 2x6) Nayar ensured that Mumbai put up a challenging total.

The scores:

Mumbai Indians:

S. Jayasuriya c R.P. Singh b Venugopala Rao 36,

S. Tendulkar c Silva b Afridi 23,

D. Thornely lbw b Afridi 8,

A. Nayar c Sharma b R.P. Singh 38,

R. Uthappa c Afridi b Venugopala 7,

D. Bravo b R.P. Singh 30,

P. Shah b R.P. Singh 10,

Y. Takawale (not out) 5,

R. Raje (not out) 1;

Extras (lb-11, w-7, nb-2): 20.

Total (for seven wkts in 20 overs): 178.

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-72, 3-72, 4-96, 5-150, 6-156, 7-175.

Deccan Chargers bowling:

Vijaykumar 2-0-24-0,

Zoysa 3-0-37-0,

Venugopala Rao 3-0-25-2,

R.P. Singh 4-0-35-3,

Afridi 4-0-23-2,

Ojha 4-0-23-0.

Deccan Chargers:

A. Gilchrist c Shah b Fernando 13,

S. Afridi c Thornely b Bravo 0,

R. Sharma lbw b Fernando 6,

C. Silva c Takawale b Nayar 17,

Y. Venugopala Rao c Shah b Bravo 57,

D. Ravi Teja b Bravo 37,

N. Zoysa (not out) 10,

H. Das (run out) 2,

R.P. Singh (not out) 3;

Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-3, nb-1): 8.

Total (for seven wkts in 20 overs): 153.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-20, 3-20, 4-56, 5-130, 6-136, 7-145.

Mumbai Indians bowling:

Nehra 4-0-29-0,

Bravo 4-0-24-3,

Fernando 4-0-38-2,

Raje 2-0-19-0,

Nayar 3-0-18-1,

Thornely 1-0-8-0,

Jayasuriya 2-0-13-0.

Courtesy: The Hindu.