Saturday, April 30, 2011

Ishant scripts Charger's win

Ishant Sharma bulldozed the Kochi Tuskers Kerala batting line-up with a sensational five-wicket spell as Deccan Chargers spanked the hosts by 55 runs in their Indian Premier League match here today.

Before Ishant's fiery spell, Chargers skipper Kumar Sangakkara had scored a defying 65 off 47 balls under pressure to help the side reach a modest 129 for seven after being invited to bat at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.

The Chargers bowled out the hosts for 74 in 16.3 overs as Ishant produced one of the most memorable fast bowling spells in the history of the T20 league with incredible figures of 3-0-12-5.

Image: Deccan Chargers' Ishant Sharma celebrates the wicket of Kochi Tuskers Kerala's Brad Hogg, unseen, during an Indian Premier League cricket match in Kochi, India, Wednesday, April 27, 2011.







Chargers badly needed a win as they had lost four of the six matches before and were sitting at the bottom of the points table. Now they have jumped to the sixth spot.

The track had helped the Kochi pacers as well but Ishant extracted the maximum help out of the juicy pitch as he hit the deck hard.

Ishant's was the third-best performance by a bowler in the history of tournament. Rajasthan Royals's Sohail Tanvir had recorded best figures in the inaugural edition in 2008 when he took six four 16 against Chennai.

Image: Deccan Chargers Kumar Sangakkara bats during the IPL Twenty20 cricket match between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Deccan Chargers in Kochi on April 27, 2011.







Kochi had not scored even a single run off the bat and had lost four batsmen when they began their chase. Ishant was responsible for the mayhem as he ripped apart the rival top order by striking thrice in his first over, dismissing Parthiv Patel (0), Raiphi Gomez (0) and Brad Hodge (0).

Dale Steyn (3/16) had dismissed dangerous Brendon McCullum (0) in the first over and the two runs that Kochi had managed on the scoreboard at that time, came through a leg-bye and a wide.

Ishant sent shock waves in the rival camp when he returned to bowl his second over and trapped Kedar Jadhav (0) in the first ball and had Mahela Jayawardene (4) caught behind in the last ball.

Image: Deccan Chargers Kumar Sangakkara (R) and teammate Cameron White of Australia speak during the IPL Twenty20 cricket match between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Deccan Chargers in Kochi on April 27, 2011.





The scorecard was reading a horrible 11 for six in four overs. Ravindra Jadeja (23) and Thisara Perera (22) though showed nerves of steel as they responded to the tough situation with a gritty 36-run stand for the seventh wicket.

It could not help them avert defeat but saved them from suffering the ignominy of recording the lowest total in the IPL history, which is 58 for Rajasthan against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009.

Earlier, Invited to bat, Chargers were reeling at 20 for three in 5.2 overs but Sangakkara in company of Cameron White (31) rescued the team from the precarious position with a defying 90-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Image: Kochi Tuskers Kerala's R.P.Singh, forth right, celebrates with teammates the dismissal of Deccan Chargers Sunny Sohal during an Indian Premier League cricket match in Kochi, India, Wednesday, April 27, 2011.




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