HYDERABAD – Deccan Chargers revived their faltering Indian Premier League campaign with a 33-run thrashing of Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday. Pacemen Dale Steyn and Manpreet Gony grabbed three wickets each while Ishant Sharma took one to restrict Bangalore to 142-9 after Bharat Chipli struck 61 not out to take Deccan to 175-5 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
The win was Deccan’s first at home after eight IPL losses, including two in the current edition. Sharma struck early for Deccan, having the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan caught behind in the second over for seven. The experiment to promote tailender Zaheer Khan as a pinch hitter also flopped, with Steyn uprooting his middle stump with a swinging full toss.
Gony then removed opening batsman Mayank Agarwal and the in-form AB de Villiers to leave Bangalore reeling at 29-4 in the seventh over. Virat Kohli waged a lone battle, making a 51-ball 71 before falling to Gony. Chipli earlier held the Deccan innings together with his quickfire 35-ball knock, containing five fours and three sixes. Zaheer had given Bangalore a key breakthrough when he removed opener Shikhar Dhawan in the third over after skipper Daniel Vettori won the toss and elected to field.
