Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers by 7 wickets

The difference in Deccan Chargers team from the previous IPL was that the Adam Gilchrist-led side was lacking a finisher who could take them home from crunch situations. On Wednesday, they found one. Andrew Symonds led the Chargers to a convincing seven-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore from a difficult situation. In the process, he also re-established that he is one of the best finishers in the game.

When Symonds walked into the middle, after the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket, the scoreboard was reading 95 in the 12th over. The team was in need of 90 more runs in about eight overs. He did not waste too many deliveries. In the end, he remained unbeaten on 53, bringing up his half century with a boundary that also heralded the team’s much needed victory. The Chargers won by seven wickets with T Suman remaining unbeaten on 78 (off 57 balls). Symonds and Suman put on 91 runs for the fourth wicket.
If Symonds was the hero of the match, Suman was the surprise package. The 26-year old Hyderabadi was surprisingly elevated to No.3 position and he grabbed opportunity with both hands. After the exit of Adam Gilchrist, Monish Mishra and Rohit in quick succession, Suman took on the centrestage and ensured that the required rate didn’t get out of hands. In the process, he also completed his first half century in this year’s competition.

Earlier, Jacques Kallis proved why he deserved the Orange Cap. He led RCB to 184 for six. He completed his sixth IPL half century this year, but was unlucky to get out on 68. Kallis’ effort was well complimented by Virat Kolhi, who gave a befitting reply to the national selectors who ignored him for the World T20. He smashed a brilliant half century (58 off 34 balls) that included 22 runs off a Symonds’ over.

Having gone into the match with Manish Pandey in place of Kevin Pietersen, RCB were hoping for a repeat of Centurion in South Africa, where Pandey became the first Indian to score an IPL century. But this time around, Pandey failed to make any impression as he was bowled by Ryan Harris in the third over of the match. Rahul Dravid once again showed that nothing can beat a sound technique in any form of cricket as he, in the company of Kallis, ensured that RCB had a solid foundation. The team went on to score 184 for 6 but the total was not enough. But then, no total is enough when Symonds gets going.