Suman’s fifty leads Deccan to 6-wkt victory

Deccan Chargers claimed an easy 6-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL encounter.

Zeecric Bureau

Nagpur: A fine half-century by Tirumalasetti Suman helped defending champions Deccan Chargers snap an easy 6-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings, thus ending their three-match winning streak, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium here Saturday. Deccan Chargers overcame a poor start and achieved the target of 139 by losing four wickets and with five balls to spare after Suman hit a 44-ball 55, his second IPL half-century, and Andrew Symonds remained unbeaten on 27. Opting to bat first, Suresh Raina’s well struck 52 went in vain as Super Kings could get just 138 for eight in 20 overs. Both the teams now have 10 points from 11 matches and the race for the fourth semi-final place is still wide open. Chennai Super Kings now have to win their remaining three games. Chasing a small total, Chargers were off to a poor start after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up skipper Adam Gilchrist (7) and Monish Mishra (21) in four deliveries in the fifth over with just 35 runs on board. Rohit Sharma (8) also failed to fire and departed as the score stood at 61 for three in the 11 over. Suman and Symonds then added crucial 46-runs for the fourth wicket to take Chargers to a deserving win at their home ground.Earlier in the day, Deccan Chargers bowlers were spot on right from the start and bowled a disciplined line and length to restrict the famed Super Kings batting to 138 for eight in 20 overs, Ryan Harris (3/18) and Harmeet Singh (1/21) did most of the damage as Super Kings could get just 40 runs from the eight overs between the bowlers. Matthew Hayden (19) was the first to depart after he tried to guide Harmeet to third man but instead edged it to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchirist. In his next over, Harmeet affected a run out to get rid of opener Murali Vijay, who scored a breezy 13-ball 23. Raina then made the most of the life he got after he was dropped by Monsh Mishra off Dwayne Smith and hit three consecutive fours in the same over to set the tone of his innings. Raina waged a lone battle as he saw wickets falling at the other end. The left-hander departed after charged Harris and holed out to Rohit Sharma at long off. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (7), Mike Hussey (8), Subramaniam Badrinath (6) failed to get to double digits while the odd boundary kept flowing from Raina’s blade from the other end. The Chargers tightened the noose in the last five overs, which yeilded just 28 runs, including one four.Teams: Deccan Chargers: A Gilchrist (capt), M Mishra, T Suman, A Symonds, R Sharma, D Smith, B Sumanth, RP Singh, P Ojha, R Harris, Harmeet Singh. Chennai Super Kings: M S Dhoni (capt), M Hayden, M Vijay, S Raina, M Hussey, S Badrinath, R Ashwin, S Jakati, D Bollinger, S Tyagi, T Thushara.