Chennai Stupor Kings

When Shahid Afridi slammed 21 runs in Joginder8217;s 18th over to seal the seven-wicket win as Scott Styris 36 watched from the other end, it was a perfect culmination of a team effort that has started with RP Singh and P Vijay Kumar getting the white Kookaburra to shape in and out. Later, the middle-and-leg line of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ohja was complemented in the field by Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs.

On a MA Chidambaram wicket that afforded good bounce on hitting the deck, there were some huge shots played, including the one by Chennai8217;s Albie Morkel that sailed out of the ground. But his team8217;s boundaries were surrounded by too many dot balls 8212; as many as 53 overall 8212; and Morkel was all alone when the big hits were a premium.

The South African8217;s cameo of 29 from 19 balls and MS Gony8217;s 15 from six deliveries propelled Super Kings to 144/7 after a disastrous start that saw the exit of Parthiv Patel, Anirudha Srikanth, Stephen Fleming and S Badrinath with just 43 on the board. Dhoni and Suresh Raina hung on but were unable to transform the innings before falling to soft dismissals towards the end.

The Deccan batsmen, on the other hand, were never in trouble. Once Gilchrist and Rohit had done their jobs, they had the right man in the middle 8212; Afridi 8212; with 18 needed from 18.

While the Deccan Chargers are finally looking to make progress in the tournament, Chennai are steadily slipping down the ladder.