Say good-bye to the Deccan Chargers! The defeat on Sunday at the hands of The Kolkata Knight Riders has ensured that the Deccan Chargers will not make it beyond the league round of the IPL. It’s really a sorry state of affairs. The Deccan Chargers, on paper, are one of the strongest sides in the IPL with the likes of Gibbs, Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh and Chaminda Vaas in their line-up. But individual brilliance aside, the team never really jelled well as a unit, like say the Rajasthan Royals, The Chennai Superkings or the Kings XI Punjab.
The Kolkata Knight Riders, who until last week looked to be in all sorts of trouble with four back-to-back defeats now seem to be back in the hunt for one of the 3 remaining semi-final berths (The Rajasthan Royals have already secured theirs with Sunday’s win over the Delhi Daredevils). The battle for the top 4 slots should be very interesting to watch now. The Chennai Superkings and the Kings XI Punjab should feel that their semi-final slots are more or less reserved now, but it’s anybody’s game between The Delhi Daredevils, The Kolkata Knight Riders and The Mumbai Indians.
Coming back to Sunday’s clash between the Deccan Chargers and the Kolkata Knight Riders, the visitors took the attack to the opposition right from the start with Aakash Chopra, ‘the comeback kid’ providing his side with a solid beginning. The Knight Riders were at one-point 73-1 in ten overs. But then came Saurav Ganguly, man-of-the-match in the last outing against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He shone once again as he lead from the front with a brilliant 57 - ball 91. David Hussey, the only remaining Aussie star in the Kolkata side, proved once again that he is complete VFM with a blazing 29-ball 57. The duo helped their side notch up a secure total of 204.
"It’s anybody’s game between The Delhi Daredevils,
The Kolkata Knight Riders and The Mumbai Indians"
The Deccan Chargers hence had an uphill task on their hands, needing to score at 10 runs an over right from the start. The fact that Ashoke Dinda grabbed the priced scalps of Gilchrist, Gibbs and Rohit Sharma before they could do much damage did not help the Deccan Chargers. Saurav Ganguly however was not ready to rest despite scoring a brilliant 91. His dream outing continued with figures of 2-25 from his quota of 4 overs, which once again earned him the gold helmet! Though Venugopal Rao batted like a man possessed in his knock of 71 runs off just 42 balls, it was too little and too late.
Eventually the Chargers managed to score 181-7, which, as mentioned earlier, sealed their fate in the IPL. With nothing left to play for but their battered egos, The Chargers should pull up their socks. After all Rahul Dravid has already announced that The Royal Challengers are now going to play for pride!
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