Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad beat Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets at the M Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday to keep their hopes alive in the Indian Premier League.

It was only the second win in seven matches for the Hyderabad team while the loss meant, Chennai have now faced defeat in their last three games after wins in their first four.

• Scorecard | Images

The departure of Australians Matthew Hayden [Images] and Michael Hussey and New Zealander Jacob Oram [Images], all having to report on national duty, hasclearly affected the team's morale.

Chasing 145 to win, the Deccan Chargers lost South African Herschelle Gibbs [Images] (10) early but stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist [Images] (54) put on 54 runs for the second wicket with New Zealand [Images] allrounder Scott Styris (36) to lay the foundation.

Gilchrist's was a trademark knock, coming off just 36 balls with six boundaries and two huge sixes off South African paceman Makhaya Ntini [Images].

Styris then combined with Rohit Sharma (23), the tournament's highest scorer so far, to put on another 47 runs for the third wicket.

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And he and Shahid Afridi [Images] (with an aggressive 20 not out off just six balls with two boundaries and two sixes) ensured no further damage was done as the Hyderabad team coasted home with two overs to spare. 

Earlier, a disciplined show by the bowlers and some excellent fielding allowed Deccan Chargers restrict Chennai Super Kings for a modest 144 for seven wickets.

Playing without their regular captain VVS Laxman, nursing a hand injury, the Deccan bowlers responded well after their Gilchrist won the toss and asked the hosts to take first strike of the pitch.

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P Vijaykumar removed Parthiv Patel (4) in the first over and his bowling colleagues ensured that the hosts subsequently did not get enough partnerships to keep going.

For the Chennai side, Suresh Raina (32), captain MS Dhoni [Images] (23) and Albie Morkel (29 not out) did bulk of the scoring. 

Things could have been worse for the Chennai side had not Morkel and Manpreet Gony (15 not out of 6 balls) unleashed some lusty shots towards the fag end of the innings to swell the tally.

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Morkel's unbeaten 29 came off 19 balls and included two sixes besides a boundary.

RP Singh was the pick of the Chennai bowlers, claiming two for 12 in his three overs.

After Vijaykumar drew the first blood with his sixth delivery, RP Singh soured former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth's son Anirudha's (1) IPL debut.

Stephen Fleming [Images] (14) was contemplating steading the ship but an airborne Rohit Sharma intercepted his full-blooded drive off Scott Styris to cut short his stay, while Herschelle Gibbs pulled off a blinder to remove S Badrinath for a duck. 

Raina was looking dangerous but Sanjay Bangar halted him in his stride and Pragyan Ojha then removed Dhoni (23) to nip the hosts' hopes of a massive total in the match.

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