Knightmare continues for Deccan

Abysmal run-rate

The Chargers8217; run-rate,which plunged below seven when L Balaji 2/22 got through Kumar Sangakkara8217;s defence in the sixth over,never breached even those mediocre heights for the rest of the innings. Dhawan and Parthiv Patel then rotated the strike and struck the occasional boundary during a 44-run partnership and when they ought to have kicked on,Chargers lost wickets in a heap.

Parthiv was run out in the twelfth over when he went for a non-existent second run and from there on,just two more boundaries one of which came from the bat of Dale Steyn in the 20th over off Sunil Naraine 2/26 were scored until the end of the innings. Dhawan perished in the 15th over when he tried to break the shackles but only found the fielder in the deep with a leg slide slog off Rajat Bhatia. The southpaw8217;s run-a-ball 50 did not exactly set the ground ablaze,but the slow nature of the wicket and the lack of support from the other end absolved him of some of the blame. However,the knock was not nearly enough to get his side to a competitive total.

BRIEF SCOREs: Deccan Chargers 126/7 in 20 overs S Dhawan 50,P Patel 23,L Balaji 2/22,S Naraine 2/26 lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 127/5 in 19 overs G Gambhir 30,M Tiwary 30,D Dteyn 2/24