NEW DELHI – Little-known opener Sunny Sohal hit a half-century and Kumar Sangakkara made a solid 49 to set up Deccan Chargers’ 16-run win over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. Sohal top-scored with an impressive 62 as Deccan posted a competitive 168-4 before restricting Delhi to 152-7 for their second victory in five matches of the Twenty20 tournament. Australian David Warner scored a 48-ball 51 with the help of one six and five fours for Delhi, who suffered their third defeat in four games. He added 52 for the fourth wicket with Venugopal Rao (21).
Seamer Harmeet Singh bagged two crucial wickets, including that of skipper Virender Sehwag (12), to put Delhi under pressure, while Australian paceman Daniel Christian finished with 2-38. Yogesh Nagar (23) and Australian James Hopes (17 not out) were the other main scorers for Delhi. Sohal, who smashed a six and a four off successive balls from South African fast bowler Morne Morkel, earlier put on 92 for the second wicket with skipper Sangakkara, who hit one six and eight fours in his 35-ball knock. Sri Lankan Sangakkara looked set to reach his half-century before falling in a bid to step up the run-rate. Australian Cameron White helped Deccan cross the 150-mark with a brisk 25-ball 31 not out in the closing overs.
Brief scores: Deccan Chargers 168-4 in 20 overs (S. Sohal 62, K. Sangakkara 49, C. White 31 not out) beat Delhi Daredevils 152-7 in 20 overs (D. Warner 51, Y. Nagar 23, V. Rao 21; Harmeet Singh 2-27, D. Christian 2-38) by 16 runs. Kochi beat Chennai: Brendon McCullum smashed a rapidfire 47 to power Kochi Tuskers Kerala to a seven-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings on Monday. The New Zealander hit three sixes and four boundaries in his 33-ball knock as Kochi achieved a rain-revised target of 135 with two overs to spare in a match reduced to 17-overs-a-side. It was Kochi’s second win and Chennai’s second defeat in four matches.
McCullum, who hit two sixes off South African paceman Albie Morkel early in his innings, added 51 off just six overs for the second wicket with Parthiv Patel, who scored a 26-ball 34. The New Zealander eventually fell attempting a big shot as he was caught at long-off by Morkel off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who also dismissed skipper Mahela Jayawardene (16) to finish with 2-31. Australian Brad Hodge (19 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (16 not out) completed the victory with a 25-run stand for the unfinished fourth wicket off just two overs.
Chennai’s Suresh Raina earlier cracked a brisk 40-ball 50 with the help of one six and five fours to prop up the innings after the early dismissal of Australian Michael Hussey (eight). Hussey was caught behind off paceman Rudra Pratap Singh, but Raina steadied the innings with two useful stands as he added 37 for the second wicket with Murali Vijay (28) and 48 for the next with Subramaniam Badrinath (19).
Opener Vijay hit six fours in his 18-ball knock before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a 13-ball 14 not out, including a six off the last ball of the innings.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 131-4 in 17 overs (S. Raina 50, M. Vijay 28) lost to Kochi Tuskers Kerala 135-3 in 15 overs (B. McCullum 47, P. Patel 34; R. Ashwin 2-31) by seven wickets (D/L method).
