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Deccan Chargers playing their first ever IPL home game at the Barabati Stdaium in Cuttack tamed Kings XI Punjab by six runs to record their second win in Match 12 of the IPL 2010. The listless Kings XI Punjab made 164/8, chasing 171 for win falling short by six runs. But the contest was never as close as the scores make it out to be simply because the Kings XI Punjab kept loosing wickets at frequent intervals because of which they were never in the hunt. Kings XI Punjab have so far had a nightmare of a tournament losing all their first three matches while Deccan Chargers have finally notched a home victory.
Batting first, Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist was on song as he slammed a whirlwind 12-ball 33 (4x4, 2x6). Gilchrist struck both the sixes off an inconsistent Sreesanth who conceded 51 runs from his four overs. 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 and Andrew Symonds struck his second successive half century before he was held in the deep for 38-ball 53 (3x3, 3x6). T Suman played a cameo knock of 26 (22 balls, 2x4, 1x6) 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. Opener MS Bisla was run out, skipper Kumar Sangakarra was done in by a ball from Vaas which came in and hit the stumps to have Kings XI Punjab reeling at 11/2. It became 22/3 in the fifth over when left-hander Yuvraj Singh continued his poor form with the bat. He hit Vaas straight to Herschelle Gibbs at covers.
England opener 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, who made his IPL debut for the Kings XI Punjab today, made only seven before falling to local hero Pragyan Ojha. However, it was left-hander Irfan Pathan (60; 29 balls, 3x4, 5x6) 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.
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