Royals soar,Deccan plateau

Kumar Sangakkara seemed to have found an ingenious solution to his teams early woes in the tournament.

On Tuesday,Kumar Sangakkara seemed to have found an ingenious solution to his teams early woes in the tournament. Coming into the contest against Rajasthan Royals,Deccan Chargers had lost both their matches and it was apparent that the side was struggling to get meaningful contributions from its local players,bar Shikhar Dhawan.

Against Rajasthan,Sangakkaras team talk pretty much amounted to asking his key guys to go from doing almost everything to doing everything.

The batting has been manned almost exclusively by Dhawan,Sangakkara and two of Deccans imports against Mumbai the quartet made 124 out of 138 or almost 90 per cent of their runs. Tuesday saw the four improve on that figure,making it a round 100. Electing to bat,Deccan lost just two wickets,which meant Dhawan 44,Sangakkara 52,Dan Christian 29 not out and JP Duminy 58 not out hoarded the 196 the side made all to themselves.

But Deccan are recently in the habit of taking with the right hand and giving it back with the left. In the game against Mumbai,the batsmen and Steyn appeared to have done enough until Christian conceded 18 off the final over,which included a last ball full toss that disappeared for six.

Having to score at almost ten an over from the get go,Rahul Dravid 42,24 balls perhaps realised that if Steyn who along with Christian had claimed 10 of the 12 wickets Deccan had taken until then was taken out of the equation,the visitors bowling would flatline. Dravid led the charge himself,slashing and pulling Steyn for three boundaries in the first over he bowled. The South African did not come back on until after Dravid was dismissed,by which time the skipper had outscored Rahane more than two to one.

With Ashok Menaria replacing Dravid,Steyn managed to sneak in a quiet over,conceding just four runs. Amit Mishra,who as a leg spinner deals with the professional hazard of batsmen winding up to swing even as you run in,made the most of the north-bound required rate. He picked up a wicket in each of his final three overs Menaria,Rahane and Owais Shah in the 12th,14th and 16th respectively and with Steyn having two to go,it looked like Deccan might just get on the points board.

Steyn was brought on right away,and what Dravid started,Brad Hodge 48 not out,21 balls carried on. When Botha turned the strike over in the second ball of the 17th over,Rajasthan needed 52 runs of 22 balls. Hodge knocked 16 of those in the next four balls,cutting,flicking and drilling the South African for four boundaries on the trot.

Late charge

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With Hodge in the mood,Christian and Anand Rajan wilted expectedly,going for 27 runs in two overs,bringing the equation down to 11 off the final Steyn over.

Hodge hit the first delivery so hard it looked like the ball was in the hands of deep cover the moment it left the bowlers hand,and yet the all-rounder risked the double to get back on strike. It turned out that he need not have been so desperate.

Dishant Yagnik,drafted in to replace Shreevats Goswami who pulled up 15 minutes before start,came on strike the next ball after Hodge could only squeeze a low full toss out for a single. The accidental starter then calmly thrashed Steyn for successive boundaries for the win. Short of sealing the contest himself,Dravid would not have liked it to end any other way.

Brief scores: Deccan Chargers 196 for 2 wickets JP Duminy 58 n.o,S Dhawan 52; S Trivedi 1/27 vs Rajasthan Royals 197 for 5 wickets in 19.4 overs Dravid 42,A Rahane 44,B Hodge 48 n.o; A Mishra 3/32