Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Gilchrist on fire

The Chennai Super Kings slumped to their third defeat on the bounce as an Adam Gilchrist-inspired Deccan Chargers eased to a seven-wicket win in their Indian Premier League encounter on Tuesday.

The hosts set the Chargers a victory target of 145 from their 20 overs but that total looked under threat right from the start of the visitors' reply as opener Gilchrist set about Chennai attack with some sumptuous stroke play.

The former Australia international reached 54 in just 36 balls to lay the groundwork for the win, which was clinched thanks Scott Styris' unbeaten 36 and Shahid Afridi's quickfire 20 not out.

The victory for the Chargers is only their second of the competition, and lifts them from the foot of the IPL standings.

The hosts' innings never truly fired into life, with the wickets of their top three batsmen falling for just 33 runs.

Parthiv Patel (four), Stephen Fleming (14) and Srikkanth Anirudha (one) offered little to concern the Chargers' attack, although Suresh Raina's 32 from 21 deliveries did offer some resistance for a period.

After Subramaniam Badrinath was dismissed for a four-ball duck, Raina paired with Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a fifth-wicket stand of 39 that took the Super Kings towards 100.

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