Deccan Chargers charged to a fine victory.

Gilchrist laid the foundation for the chargers

Captaining the side in place of the injured VVS Laxman, Gilchrist blazed 54 from 38 balls as the Chargers comfortably chased down the Chennai Super Kings' disappointing 7-144 in Chennai.
Gilchrist captained the Deccan Chargers after V.V.S. Laxman missed out due to a hand injury. Upfront, his decision to bowl was rewarded in quick time.

Earlier, Chennai opener Parthiv Patel managed a Hayden-like cut off opening bowler D.P. Vijaykumar for four in the innings’ first over. Parthiv failed to replicate the explosive opener in an attempted hook that found R.P. Singh in the same over.

While wickets were tumbling, Captain M.S. Dhoni and Raina began a partnership that punctuated labour with the odd pressure-relieving boundary. The running was desperate, but the situation called for athleticism.

Overall, the Chargers kept it tight and runs came mostly in singles. In fact, the Super Kings could add just 39 runs in the next seven overs before Raina departed, offering a tame catch to Rohit Sharma off Sanjay Bangar as he tried to break the shackles.

In the next over, Dhoni top-edged an attempted sweep off left-arm spinner Pragyan Ohja and Afridi made no mistake with the lobbed catch at backward of point.Albie Morkel (29 not out) and Joginder Sharma (16) then added 38 runs in 23 balls aided by some big-hitting to boost the Super Kings total.

After Joginder left, clean bowled by R.P. Singh, it was Manpreet Gony (15 not out) who slammed a couple of sixes as the Super Kings picked up 37 runs in the last three overs to give themselves a fighting chance.

Chennai, without Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey, have now lost three in a row after winning their first four games.

The scores:

Chennai Super Kings: Parthiv c R.P. Singh b Vijaykumar 4, S. Fleming c Rohit b Styris 14, S. Anirudha c Afridi b R.P. Singh 1, S. Raina c Rohit b S. Bangar 32, S. Badrinath c Gibbs b Afridi 0, M.S. Dhoni c Afridi b Ojha 23, A. Morkel (not out) 29, Joginder b R.P. Singh 16, M.S. Gony (not out) 15; Extras: (lb-6, wd-4) 10; Total: (20 overs, seven wickets) 144.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-15, 3-33, 4-43, 5-82, 6-86, 7-124.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Vijaykumar 3-0-17-1, R.P. Singh 3-0-12-2, Styris 3-0-24-1, Afridi 3-0-27-1, Bangar 4-0-36-1, Ojha 4-0-22-1.

Deccan Chargers: A. Gilchrist c Badrinath b A. Morkel 54, H. Gibbs c & b Gony 10, S. Styris (not out) 36, Rohit c Badrinath b Muralitharan 23, S. Afridi (not out) 20; Extras: (lb-1, wd-2, nb-2) 5; Total: (three wickets, 18 overs) 148.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-78, 3-125. Chennai Super Kings bowling: Nitini 4-0-37-0, Gony 3-0-15-1, Morkel 4-0-26-1, Joginder 3-0-45-0, Muralitharan 4-0-24-1.