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Harris sends Marsh packing

Adam Gilchrist's men responded perfectly after the Deccan Chargers captain won the toss and decided to put the Kings XI Punjab in to bat.

Ryan Harris struck with the fifth ball off the innings, sending Shaun Marsh back to the pavilion for a duck.

Harris bowled a perfect out-swinger, which got the edge of Marsh and was easily pouched by Gilchrist.

Photographs: IPL/Getty Images

Sangakkara-Jayawardene punish Deccan bowlers

But after the first wicket the Deccan bowlers failed to maintain a good line and length on a lively pitch.

Kumar Sangakkara was the first to show aggression, hitting the first boundary of the Punjab innings.

He put Mitchell Marsh to the sword in his first over, hitting the youngster for consecutive boundaries.

Jayawardene, at the other end, opened up, hitting RP Singh for a couple of boundaries, as the duo settle down after the early jolt. They soon brought up their 50-run stand, in the seventh over.

Rahul Sharma provides the breakthrough

Deccan were lacklustre in the field, giving away easy singles. After the strategic time-out, Gilchrist brought on Pragyan Ojha and the move almost paid off.

Jayawardene scored the first boundary after the break and tried to repeat the shot, only to top-edge it to short-fine leg, where Rahul Sharma spilled a relatively easy chance.

Sangakkara, at the opther end, opened his shoulders and hit Andrew Symonds out of the park.

The Kings XI Punjab skipper then put Ojha to sword, hitting consecutive boundaries, in the process reaching this half-century.

However, he lost his patience as he went for a reverse sweep off Rahul Sharma and looped the ball to Ojha at short fine-leg. He was out after a well made 52 off 37 balls, inclusive of nine boundaries and a six.

Jayawardene continues good form

Jayawardene continued his good form in the series and took over for his skipper. After the Deccan bowlers managed to peg back Kings XI, he opened up.

He first hit Rahul for a huge six and then followed it up with a boundary. But the biggest over came when the Sri Lankan hit five consecutive boundaries off RP, plundering 21 runs off the 17th.

The Deccan bowlers continued to leak runs in the last overs as Jaywardene dispatched them to all corners.

Harris, who had a good spell, was hit for a maximum, first by Yuvraj. Then came a couple of boundaries by Jayawardene as he inched closer to his century.

The former Sri Lankan skipper then plundered 14 runs off the final over as Punjab finished 174 for three. Jayawardene was unbeaten on 93.

Gilchrist back to pavilion cheaply yet again

Chasing an improbable 175 for a win, it was important for Adam Gilchrist to fire. The Australian, who has been in poor form in the entire series, started off with a streaky boundary over midwicket. He then welcomed Irfan Pathan into the attack with a top shot through covers for another boundary.

But Pathan got his revenge when he enticed Gilchrist to play a false stroke and have him caught at extra cover for just nine runs.

Suman takes attack to the opposition

T Suman, who is giving a good account of himself, took little time to settle in and started hitting the bowlers to all corners.  He got off the mark with a flat bat boundary over mid-on off Shalab Srivastava. The very next over he hit 'Rusty' Theron for a huge six and couple of balls later hit hit him for another boundary.

Suman got good support from Monish Mishra, who too played aggressive cricket to keep them in the hunt. Theron was at the receiving end again as Mishra got an outside edge towards the boundary.

However, Mishra fell in the next over, thanks to a poor decision by the umpire.

Mishra was adjudged leg before wicket to a Vikramjeet Malik's delivery that looked going down the leg side. Mishra made 20 runs off 21 balls.

Rohit-Suman keep Chargers in the hunt

Rohit Sharma joined Suman and the run-rate picked up. He got off the mark with a square drive off Malik. Suman, at the other end, picked up a short of a length delivery from Pathan and dispatched it to the boundary for a maximum.

But Chargers got the much-needed momentum in Srivastava's third over, as the duo bagged 16 runs from it.

Sangakkara introduced Yuvraj into the attack, but he too had to watch the ball disappea into the crowd. Yuvraj's first over produced 12 runs as Chargers kept the runs flowing.

Punjab strike twin blows

Just when things were looking good for the Chargers, Punjab pulled things back with twin blows.

Piyush Chawla first had Suman edging one to Sangakkara. He was out after a well-made 43 off 31 balls.

Then, in the next over, Theron accounted for the dangerous Symonds.

The Suman-Rohit duo added 66 runs for the third wicket.

 

Rohit seals the deal for Chargers

But Rohit kept the charge going with lusty blows at the end. He was ably supported by Bodapati Sumath, who didn't do much with the bat, but did a lot of running, converting singles into twos.

The game changed in Pathan's last over, which yielded 18 runs, including a six and boundary.

Sumanth sealed the match with a boundary off Malik as Chargers registered a convincing five-wicket victory.