Yes,Deccan

Chargers beat Pune to post their first win

Among all the IPL teams,Deccan Chargers perhaps possess the simplest anthem Go,Chargers,go,Chargers,go,Chargers,go go go and a tune that even the most tone-deaf can chant without going off-key. During the 16th over of their innings against Pune Warriors,loudspeakers belted out the anthem three times in three deliveries,in probably the most jubilant assertion of the franchises cricketing pride all season.

The cause for this was a blond Victorian batsman with an ungainly stance,an almost counter-intuitive shuffle prior to the bowlers release back foot moving towards the leg side and a stiff follow through. Hardly an advertisement of crickets aesthetic delights.

But Cameron White didnt care about all that. Dumped from the Australian ODI side soon after a calamitous World Cup 70 runs in six innings at 17.50 and stripped of the T20 captaincy after a horrific Big Bash 55 runs in eight innings at 7.85 the IPL was something of a last-chance saloon for the 28-year-old. And Thursday night was a last-chance saloon for the Chargers,who had no wins in their first six matches.

The first iteration of the Chargers anthem rang out when White skittered out of his crease and flat-batted Rahul Sharma down the ground for four. The next ball was quicker,flatter,and shorter in length. Back foot skating towards square leg,White swung his arms through the line and dumped the ball over the extra cover fence. He repeated this sequence of motions against the next ball as well. It flew straighter this time,but travelled the same sort of distance.

By the time he was dismissed in the 18th over,he had moved on to 78 from 46. Deccans last two overs only fetched them 15. And yet,thanks largely to White,they reached 177 for four.

Starts but no finish

Nearly all of Punes batsmen got starts,but none of them crossed 30. As a result,none of the partnerships built up enough steam to put any real pressure on the Chargers bowlers.

Manish Pandey and Sourav Ganguly,for instance,put on 28,and were just looking like upping the ante when Pandey fell. Having just steered a blockhole delivery from Juan Theron expertly past short third man for four,he tried to pierce the same gap once more,but played on to a slower,shorter ball.

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Ganguly then added 30 with Robin Uthappa before his luck caught up with him. Earlier in the over,he had opened his face limply to Manpreet Gony,and the ball had gone straight to JP Duminy at a short backward point,in and out of his hands in a blink. Two balls later,a miscued paddle scoop went in the air but dropped just wide of square leg. Back on strike,he slapped a short ball straight to substitute Daniel Harris at short cover. This time,the fielder clung on.

Uthappa followed his captain soon after,dismissed in bizarre fashion. Walking across the crease to Ashish Reddy,he looked to deflect a full delivery just wide of short fine leg. He middled it,but sent the ball crashing into leg stump.

At that point,Pune needed 90 from 41. It proved far too big a task for the remaining batsmen,even as Steve Smith,Mithun Manhas and Alfonso Thomas kept the crowd entertained by launching the ball in their vicinity quite regularly.