Deccan steal IPL show amid the glitz

The transplanted Indian Premier League finished in front of a capacity crowd with a blaze of fireworks and an array of international entertainers headed by Guyanan rock star Eddy Grant.
The Deccan Chargers took the title with a six-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final, but throughout the 37 days of the tournament in which 59 matches were played, the cricket shared top billing with the lights, music and cheerleaders that were part of the IPL package.
Arranged at short notice in South Africa following security concerns because of elections in India, the IPL captured the imagination of South African sports followers.
The opening weekend in Cape Town, with two double-headers on successive days, was sold out. So were the semi-finals, in Centurion and Johannesburg, and the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
In between, near-capacity crowds attended many of the games, attracted by low prices, the glitz and glamour of the tournament, and the chance to see most of the world's best players in action.
The unpredictable nature of Twenty20 cricket was shown when Bangalore and Deccan, who filled the last two places on the log in the first IPL in 2008, reached the final.
Even on 2009 form that was a surprise, because they beat the two teams that dominated the round robin stage, the Chennai Super Kings and log-topping Delhi Daredevils respectively.
Conditions were different in South Africa from those in India last year, with bowlers having a bigger say on late-season pitches that offered assistance to both seam and spin bowlers.
Even so, it remained a batsman's game.
Matthew Hayden, the powerful Australian left-hander who retired from international cricket in January, was Chennai's mainstay as he topped the tournament run-scorers list with 572 at an average of 52.00 and an impressive strike rate of 144.81 runs per 100 balls.
Another former Australian player, Deccan captain Adam Gilchrist, played the stand-out innings of the tournament when he slammed 85 off 35 balls in the semi-finals to get his team past Delhi.
Left-arm opening bowler RP Singh of Deccan Chargers was the leading wicket-taker with 23 at an average of 18.13, but many of the most effective bowlers were spinners, led by Bangalore captain Anil Kumble, who finished with 22 wickets, including four for 18 in the final.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was a consistent performer for Deccan and experienced international bowlers like Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh were consistently economical.
While much of the focus was on established international stars, the tournament provided a platform for young Indian players such as Bangalore's Manish Pandey, 19, who became the first Indian to hit a century in two seasons of the IPL.
While Deccan leapt from last place in 2008 to the title in 2009, defending champions Rajasthan Royals failed to reach the semi-finals, with former Australian star Shane Warne unable to inspire his comparatively modestly-funded teams to another triumph.
Much of the early focus was on Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta, all co-owners of franchises, but none of their teams did particularly well.
Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders finished an embarrassing last, winning only three out of 14 matches and Khan returned to India early in the campaign.
Zinta's Kings XI Punjab were squeezed out of the semi-finals on run rate, while Shetty's Rajasthan were sixth.
In the end, the cricketers were able to claim centre stage.

Gilchrist blasts Deccan to shock win

Adam Gilchrist blasted a 17-ball half-century and led the Deccan Chargers to a shock win over the Delhi Daredevils in the first Indian Premier League semi-final at Centurion Park on Friday.
Gilchrist finished with 85 off 35 balls, hitting five sixes and ten fours, as the Hyderabad-based Chargers stormed to a six-wicket victory against the tournament favourites with 2.2 overs to spare.
It was the first time in five matches that Deccan had been able to beat Delhi, who posted 153 for eight after being sent in.
That target soon looked easy as Gilchrist went on the rampage, hitting the fastest half-century in the IPL's short history.
Gilchrist hit five successive boundaries off fellow-Australian Dirk Nannes in the first over of the Deccan innings.
Herschelle Gibbs was bowled playing a reckless shot against Ashish Nehra in the next over but Gilchrist continued his assault, hitting 15 off an over from Pradeep Sangwan, then 13 off Nehra as the total raced to 56 off four overs.
Tillekeratne Dilshan managed an economical over of off-spin, conceding only three runs but Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag was smashed for 25 runs in his only over, including three successive sixes by Gilchrist, one from a free hit following a no-ball.
Gilchrist was third man out when he top-edged an attempted big hit against leg-spinner Amit Mishra to backward point off the last ball of the tenth over with the total on 102. Amid the carnage handed out to the other bowlers, Mishra took three for 19 in his four overs.
Deccan made a great start when Ryan Harris dismissed both Delhi opening batsmen for no runs in the first over.
But Sehwag (39) and Dilshan (65) counter-attacked in a third wicket stand of 85 and Delhi were on target for a challenging total before they lost four wickets for eight runs off the last seven balls of the innings.
Harris finished with three for 27.
Delhi finished top of the log in the round robin stage, winning ten of their 14 matches, while Deccan scraped into fourth place with seven wins and seven losses.

SA bowling coach joins Deccan Chargers

South African bowling coach Victor Barnes will work with the Deccan Chargers team for the rest of the tournament.
Barnes, who is currently bowling coach of the South African national team, was asked by Deccan Chargers coach Darren Lehman to help his bowlers.
"Darren Lehman asked me to join the team and help the boys and I was only glad to help," Barnes told Chargers official website.
He worked with Harmeet Singh, RP Singh and Shoaib Maqsusi and advised them about the importance of using the width of the crease. "I am mainly working with the fringe bowlers. A few of them had problems with over stepping. We worked on it and things are getting better," said Barnes.
"I was impressed by the number of questions they asked. They are willing to learn and that is a positive sign. They were eager in practice and I spoke to them on areas that concern bowling at the death. It was a fruitful session." Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist also expressed happiness over Barnes' addition.
"Barnes has been enjoying a senior role in the South African team. He brings with him a lot of experience and I am sure the boys will benefit from it," said Gilchrist.

Delhi survive Gilchrist blitz

Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist smashed a rapid-fire half-century, but failed to stop Delhi Daredevils from posting a 12-run win in an Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.
Delhi scored 173-7 before restricting Deccan to 161 despite Gilchrist's 33-ball 64 to boost their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Delhi lead the eight-team competition with 16 points from 10 matches, followed by Chennai (13/10), Deccan (12/11), Mumbai (11/11), Rajasthan (11/11), Bangalore (10/11), Punjab (10/11) and Kolkata (3/11).
The top four sides will advance to the semi-finals.
Gilchrist went for his shots from the beginning, hitting seamer Ashish Nehra for four boundaries in the opening over. He cracked five sixes and as many fours before inside-edging seamer Pradeep Sangwan's delivery on to his stumps.
Andrew Symonds kept the momentum with a 22-ball 41 before seamer Rajat Bhatia (4-15) triggered a dramatic collapse which saw Deccan lose their last seven wickets for just 12 runs.
Dinesh Karthik earlier helped Delhi set a stiff target with a 23-ball 44 not out, including 18 runs off the last five deliveries from Sri Lankan paceman Chaminda Vaas.
Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan set the pace, plundering 24 runs in an over from paceman Shoaib Ahmed. He cracked one six and seven fours in his 18-ball 37 before being caught by Ravi Teja in the deep off Symonds.
South African AB de Villiers kept the scoreboard moving after Dilshan's dismissal, scoring a 36-ball 44.

Smith, Sharma star in Deccan victory

Dwayne Smith smashed a brisk 47 and Rohit Sharma grabbed three quick wickets as Deccan Chargers thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Monday.
Deccan rode on West Indian Smith's 32-ball knock to post 166-7 before restricting Rajasthan to 113 for their sixth win in 10 matches. Rajasthan have so far won five of their 11 games.
Delhi lead the eight-team competition with 14 points from nine matches, followed by Chennai (13/10), Deccan (12/10), Rajasthan (11/11), Punjab (10/10), Mumbai (9/10), Bangalore (8/10) and Kolkata (3/10).
Defending champions Rajasthan faltered against the pace-spin combination, with opener Swapnil Asnodkar alone offering resistance with a 39-ball 44.
Veteran Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas (2-19) did the early damage with two wickets in a lively opening spell to reduce Rajasthan to 19-2.
The left-arm paceman trapped South Africa skipper Graeme Smith (one) leg-before and then had Australian Lee Carseldine (eight) stumped by Adam Gilchrist.
Off-spinner Sharma ensured an easy win with three wickets for just 12 runs off three tight overs.
Deccan earlier plundered 58 runs in the last five overs, thanks to man-of-the-match Smith who smashed four sixes in a superb exhibition of hard and clean hitting.
Spinners Yusuf Pathan (3-34) and Ravinder Jadeja (2-26) threatened to restrict Deccan to a modest total before Smith propped up the innings with a 37-run stand for the fifth wicket with Vaas (20).
Off-spinner Pathan struck with his third delivery when he trapped Gilchrist (10) leg-before and then accounted for Vaas and Smith.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja also kept pressure on the batsmen and got a big wicket when he bowled Andrew Symonds, who hit a 19-ball 30.

Jakati shines again for Chennai in IPL cricket

Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati picked up 4-22 as Chennai Super Kings thumped Deccan Chargers by 78 runs for their third win on the trot in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Jakati removed top-scorer Dwayne Smith (49) and Rohit Sharma in the space of four balls to help Chennai restrict Deccan to 100 all out in 14.4 overs in a one-sided contest at Buffalo Park here.
The 28-year-old unheralded bowler from Goa had also turned in a match-winning performance in Chennai's win against Delhi Daredevils on Saturday.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni earlier led the batting charge with an unbeaten 58 while tournament's leading run-getter Matthew Hayden slammed a 26-ball 43 to take Chennai to an imposing 178-3.
The win propelled Chennai to the top of the points table while Deccan slumped to their third defeat in a row.
Deccan's chase began on a disastrous note as they lost their explosive openers Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs inside the first two overs.
Albie Morkel snapped up Gilchrist off the first ball of the innings when he trapped the Deccan skipper plumb in front while Suddep Tyagi accounted for Gibbs.
Morkel returned to dismiss Venkatsai Laxman (0) in his next over but was unlucky not to claim Smith whose easy skiers were dropped twice in a row by clumsy Chennai fielders.
Smith, who also survived a crazy mix-up at the crease, briefly sustained Deccan's hopes, putting on 72 runs for the fourth wicket with Sharma (21).
But Deccan's fate was sealed once Smith was trapped leg-before by Jakati. The West Indies' all-rounder slammed five sixes and two fours in his 23-ball knock.

Rajasthan snatch thrilling IPL win over Deccan

Rajasthan Royals staged a dramatic fightback to upset table-toppers Deccan Chargers by three wickets in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.
Defending a competitive 141-5, Deccan looked set for victory when they reduced Rajasthan to 3-3 in the second over but some sloppy efforts in the field saw the defending champions steal a sensational win with two balls to spare.
It was only the second defeat for Deccan from six matches while Rajasthan registered their third win from seven outings to throw open the tournament.
Charismatic all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, tactically brought down to number eight in the batting order, once again did the trick, hitting 24 from 14 balls with two fours and two sixes.
Pathan, named man of the match, came in with Rajasthan needing 49 from 35 balls but reduced the asking rate to a mere 11 from 12 balls.
Abhishek Raut, who remained unbeaten on a 23-ball 36, and Lee Carseldine (39) were the other contributors with the bat.
Tirumalsetti Suman earlier top-scored for Deccan with an unbeaten 41 after captain Adam Gilchrist gave the side a blazing start, scoring a 41-ball 39 with five fours and two sixes.
Suman paced his 30-ball innings intelligently and also shared a rollicking stand of 59 runs off 49 balls for the fourth wicket with Rohit Sharma (38) to rescue the side from a shaky 58-3.
Sharma's knock was laced with two fours and two sixes while Suman hit one six and two boundaries.
Debutant paceman Shane Harwood of Australia took a wicket off his very first ball and also scalped another at the death to finish with impressive figures of 2-25.

No stopping Deccan Chargers in IPL

Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs clobbered the Chennai Super Kings attack to hand Deccan Chargers their fourth successive win in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
The Australian-South African duo hammered 67 off 34 balls in a spectacular opening stand as the Chargers surpassed Chennai's competitive 165-6 with six wickets and three balls to spare in the Twenty20 clash at the Kingsmead here.
The 37-year-old Gilchrist, leading the Deccan Chargers after retiring from international cricket last year, blazed 44 off 19 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.
Gibbs remained unbeaten on 69 with six fours and two sixes to continue his side's impressive run this year. The Chargers had finished at the bottom of the table in last year's inaugural tournament.
Chennai, finalists last year, now have just one win from five matches with three defeats and one rained-off game.
Chennai's innings revolved around two whirlwind knocks from left-handed veterans Matthew Hayden of Australia and Jacob Oram of New Zealand.
Hayden, who quit official cricket in January, hit 49 off 35 balls to remain the tournament's leading scorer with 215 runs in five innings.
Hayden put on 64 in 39 balls for the second wicket with Suresh Raina (25) and 38 for the third with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (22) after Parthiv Patel had fallen in the first over.
Oram, who replaced England's injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, smashed an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.

Singh grabs four in Deccan Chargers victory

Fast bowler RP Singh took four wickets as the Deccan Chargers gained a comfortable eight-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League crown at Newlands Sunday.
Singh took four for 22 as Kolkata struggled to 101 all out on a lively pitch.
The Chargers needed only 13.1 overs to clinch their win, with Herschelle Gibbs hitting 43 not out and Rohit Sharma 36 not out.
It was an encouraging performance by the Deccan side, who finished last of the eight teams in 2008.
"It's a good start," said Gibbs. "We've got a new captain, a new manager and some new ideas. The team spirit is really good."
With new captain Adam Gilchrist at the helm and former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann as coach, the Chargers kept the Knight Riders under pressure almost from the time Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and decided to bat.
McCullum was out early, caught down the leg side off Singh, and Chris Gayle followed soon afterwards, hitting Singh for a four and a six before holing out to deep mid-off.
While Singh took the wickets, West Indian fast bowler Fidel Edwards conceded only two runs in a remarkable opening spell of three overs.
Australian Brad Hodge was the only Kolkata batsman to shine, hitting 31 before falling to a stunning reflex catch by Gibbs at backward point off Scott Styris.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took two for 14 in four accurate overs before Singh came back to finish off the tail.
Gilchrist and Gibbs gave Deccan a fast start, putting on 24 in 2.5 overs before Gilchrist was caught for 14.
VVS Laxman was run out for 10 but Gibbs and Sharma saw their team through in an unbeaten stand of 69.