Symonds powers Chargers to victory

The Australian hits a half-century to inspire the Deccan Chargers as Kings XI Punjab fall short again, this one by six runs at Cuttack.

Andrew Symonds hit a half-century to inspire the Deccan Chargers to a six-run victory over the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League at Cuttack. Symonds hit a fine 53 off 38 deliveries ? his second half-century of the tournament ? as the Chargers amassed 170 for seven after being sent in to bat. Irfan Pathan then kept Kings XI in the hunt with a power-packed 60 off 29 deliveries, but his innings only proved a consolation as the Kings XI were restricted to 164 for eight. It was the Chargers' first win at home in IPL and their first ever win over the Kings XI. Adam Gilchrist (33) had begun in explosive fashion, clouting Shanthakumaran Sreesanth for two sixes and two fours in an over that yielded 24 and dominating an opening stand with VVS Laxman that yielded 43 in just three overs. But Gilchrist's stay was brief and Laxman's innings too ended abruptly, the Indian having to retire hurt after being struck a painful blow on the forearm by a wayward throw from Salabh Srivastava. Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs (23) consolidated with a 57-run stand, but that partnership was cut short when Yuvraj Singh bowled Gibbs through the gate. Rohit Sharma was then brilliantly run out by Mahela Jayawardene, Anirudh Singh was caught behind for a duck and Symonds' innings ended just past the half-century mark as the Chargers lost steam. From a rousing start, the Chargers had slipped to 142 for five in just under 17 overs and only a timely knock of 26 from Tirumalasetti Suman helped them achieve a defendable total. In reply, the Kings XI wilted and the chase all but fizzled out quickly. The opener Manvinder Bisla was run out for a duck and Chaminda Vaas again weighed in strongly with the new ball, removing Kumar Sangakkara for a duck and Yuvraj Singh for four. Vaas conceded only 13 from his first three overs and the spinners too chipped away with a regularity that made Kings XI's task all the more harder. Symonds extracted Jayawardene (14), Pragyan Ojha removed debutant Adrian Barath (seven) and Ravi Bopara's fighting innings of 38 was ended when lofted Rohit straight to Symonds in the deep as the Chargers crashed to 68 for six. Irfan then offered a glimmer of hope by racing to a half-century off only 25 deliveries and his powerful hitting left the Kings XI needing 33 from the last two overs. RP Singh conceded 14 off the penultimate over, but Irfan succumbed first ball of the final over and the Kings XI fell agonisingly short. They have lost all three games are only marginally ahead of bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals on net run rate.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist c Jayawardene b Srivastava 33 V.V.S. Laxman retired hurt 10 Herschelle Gibbs b Yuvraj Singh 23 Andrew Symonds c Bipul Sharma b Yuvraj Singh 53 Rohit Sharma run out (Jayawardene) 1 Anirudh Singh c Sangakkara b Bipul 0 Tirumalsetti Suman run out (Sangakkara) 26 Chaminda Vaas c Bipul b Pathan 16 Jaskaran Singh not out 3 Rudra Pratap Singh not out 4 Extras (w 1) 1 Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 170 Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-100, 3-102, 4-112, 5-142, 6-161, 7-163 Bowling: Irfan Pathan 3-0-16-1 Sreesanth 4-0-51-0 Shalabh Srivastava 4-0-39-1 Piyush Chawla 3-0-24-0 Bipul Sharma 2-0-19-1 Yuvraj Singh 4-0-21-2 Kings XI Punjab: Ravi Bopara c Symonds b Sharma 38 Manvinder Bisla run out (Suman) 0 Kumar Sangakkara b Vaas 0 Yuvraj Singh c Gibbs b Vaas 4 Mahela Jayawardene b Symonds 14 Adrian Barath c Sharma b Ojha 7 Irfan Pathan c Symonds b Jaskaran 60 Piyush Chawla c Ojha b Singh 9 Bipul Sharma not out 8 Sreesanth not out 12 Extras (lb 10, w 2) 12 Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 164 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-11, 3-22, 4-46, 5-57, 6-68, 7-104, 8-152 Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 4-0-27-2 Rudra Pratap Singh 4-0-43-1 Andrew Symonds 4-0-22-1 Prgyan Ojha 4-0-31-1 Rohit Sharma 3-0-19-1 Jaskaran Singh 1-0-12-1 Man of the match: Andrew Symonds

For the table, see IPL statistics

* PA Sport