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Chargers out of the race, almost

Monday May 12, 03:12 AM

The Indian Premier League has witnessed its first shocker on cricketing aspects. Deccan Chargers, with arguably the best batting line-up fit for the tournament format and the Twenty20 version, has virtually faded into oblivion as far as the dream of making it to the semi-final is concerned.

The 23-run loss on Sunday to Kolkata Knight Riders, where Deccan's best effort came by way of Venugopal Rao's 71 off 42 balls and not from the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs was a stark reminder of how, not necessarily do champion individuals make up a champion side. With Shahid Afridi sitting out in this game and too much being expected from Rohit Sharma -- who has been the side's lone ranger in the tournament so far - the pressure remained on Gilchrist and Gibbs, who walked out to open.

The South African, who has managed a mere 45 runs in five matches, once again suffered a disappointing start following which the disorder began. It was Rao's innings that saved Deccan the blushes of sorts. Hyderabad's team can now merely rely on the mathematical opportunity of making it to the semi-finals. However, given the way Jaipur, Mohali, Delhi and Chennai have been cruising along, with Kolkata catching-up once again, the fading hopes are most likely to soon turn into despair.

"It's sad we won't make to the semi-finals. But the team has learnt a lot from this concept and we can get better. The tournament has been a stupendous success and next year this team can get a lot better," Hyderabad's stand-in skipper Adam Gilchrist said.

Throughout his career, Gilchrist has been associated with a team that got tagged the best team in the history of the game. To come to India, first on the expectations of being the biggest catch for Hyderabad in the auctions and then the responsibility of leading the side, Gilchrist's IPL journey has come to face a rude jolt. However, the inconsistency with which the Deccan top-order has gone about, there was little for him and his team to bank upon.

Kolkata Knight Riders

S Butt c Gilchrist b Vaas (4b, 1x4, 0x6) 4

A Chopra run out (Gibbs) (23b, 3x4, 0x6) 24

S Ganguly c Singh b Vijaykumar (57b, 11x4, 5x6) 91

D Hussey not out (29b, 4x4, 3x6) 57

T Taibu c Teja b Singh (5b, 1x4, 0x6) 9

L Shukla not out (3b, 2x4, 0x6) 14

Extras (lb 1, w 3, nb 1) 5

Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 204

FoW: 1-4, 2-73, 3-175, 4-190

Bowling: C Vaas 3-0-36-1, D Vijaykumar 3-0-21-1, S Styris 3-0-28-0, RP Singh 4-0-59-1, V Rao 4-0-24-0, S Bangar 1-0-10-0, P Ojha 2-0-25-0

Deccan Chargers