Symonds takes Deccan past Delhi

Deccan Chargers:

Dinesh Karthik threw in a surprise right at the start, getting leg-spinner Amit Mishra to bowl the first over. The moved paid off. Mishra struck in the first over, bowling Mohnish Mishra for 1; he beat his defences with a googly that turned in sharply.

Herschelle Gibbs took the attack to Delhi's best bowler, Dirk Nannes, in his first over. The South African started by lifting Nannes over long-off for a six and then scored another two boundaries, for 14 runs from the second over.

Off-spinner Yogesh Nagar was also introduced early and Adam Gilchrist swept him for back-to-back boundaries through the leg to take the total to 34 for one after four overs.

Young leg-spinner Sarabjit Ladda was the third spinner to be brought into the attack inside the first five overs. Gilchrist welcomed him by slamming his third ball over midwicket for a six, while the next delivery was swept fine on the leg side for a boundary.

But Ladda had his revenge when he had Gilchrist caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. The Aussie top-edged an attempted flick on the leg side and was out after a quick 24 from 14 balls.

It was hard to keep Andrew Symonds quiet for long; he started off cautiously before lofting Ladda into the stands straight down the ground for maximum, in the seventh over.

It seemed Deccan were looking to target Nannes, as Gibbs slammed his first delivery of the second over for a six to take the score to 71 for two after nine overs.

Against the run of play, Delhi struck with the key wicket of Gibbs for 31. Gibbs, who hit two fours and two sixes in 26 deliveries, fell to a good diving catch from Moises Henriques at point off Nagar.

Interestingly, Delhi had nine bowling changes in the first ten overs as Deccan reached 77 for three at the halfway stage.

Nagar was the only bowler after Mishra to bowl two overs in a row but he suffered in his third. Symonds swatted him for a boundary and a six straight down the ground off successive deliveries.

Medium pacer Henriques provided Delhi the big wicket of Symonds, who was caught by AB de Villiers in the covers, after scoring 35 from 24 balls.

Rohit Sharma provided the momentum towards the end when he pulled Umesh Yadav for a six over square leg. He then guided a full delivery through point for a boundary, while T Suman added one more six in the over as he cleared the long-off boundary as Deccan reached 142 for four after 17 overs.

Rohit then imposed himself over Henriques, smashing two big sixes, in the 18th over, to race to 39 from 27 balls.

But Nannes managed to halt Deccan's charge by claiming the wicket of Rohit, caught by De Villiers at long-off, after he had scored a quick 45 from 30 balls, laced with three sixes and three fours.

T Suman was unbeaten on 29 from 19 balls as Deccan finished on 171 for six in their 20 overs.

Rohit's onslaught saw Deccan hit 56 runs in the last five overs, while losing two wickets.

Karthik continuously shuffled his bowlers around but surprisingly gave Mishra only three overs, from which he took one for 12.

Nannes had a nightmare outing as he went for 39 runs in five overs, while claiming a wicket.

Delhi Daredevils:

David Warner got the innings off to a perfect start, hitting two boundaries in the opening over from Vaas.

In the following over, Warner took RP Singh to the cleaners. RP Singh's first delivery was slammed over long-on for a six, followed by a boundary through long-off. Two deliveries later, he cracked a wide delivery over point for the second six of the over, while the next delivery was sent crashing through long-on for another boundary as Delhi raced to 29 from two overs.

But Deccan managed to stop the flow of runs, allowing just six from the next two overs, from Vaas and Pragyan Ojha respectively.

Ojha, introduced in the fourth over, dealt Delhi a big blow when he claimed the wicket of Sehwag in his first over, caught at long-off by Gibbs for 3.

Debutant leg-spinner Rahul Sharma's first delivery in the IPL was sent high into the stands over midwicket by Warner as Delhi reached 60 for one after seven overs.

Warner completed his fifty in style, off just 25 deliveries, when he lofted Ojha for a six over long-on, in the ninth over.

At the halfway stage, Delhi were well-placed on 85 for one, needing another 87 from the remaining ten overs.

Just when it looked as if Delhi would have it easy, they gave a wicket away. Warner went for a non-existent single but was caught short by a quick throw from RP Singh at short thirdman after a quick knock of 57 from 33 balls that was laced with four boundaries and four sixes.

Leg-spinner Sharma then gave Deccan a huge lift with wickets in successive overs.

AB de Villiers, who made 27 from 26 balls, missed a full toss as he attempted the sweep and was bowled. In Sharma's next over, Mithun Manhas top-edged a sweep and was brilliantly caught by Suman, running in from the long-off boundary.

With 56 needed from the last five overs, Karthik decided to take the attacking route. He swept Ojha for a huge six over midwicket and Moises Henriques cut the final delivery for a boundary for 15 runs from that over.

Delhi needed 41 from the last four overs but Symonds made their task difficult as he conceded just four runs in his third over, while taking the wicket of Henriques for 11.

The gamble to bowl the inexperienced Sharma for the 18th over proved costly as the leg-spinner went for 17 runs in that over. Captain Karthik slog-swept him for a boundary and a six over midwicket while cut a short delivery through point for the second boundary of the over to make it 20 needed from the last two overs.

Symonds turned the game on its head when he took two wickets in his final over, while giving away just six runs. His

Symonds's first delivery was hit for a boundary by Karthik through the thirdman region. But it was the Australian who had the last laugh when he came up with a brilliant catch off his bowling to send back Karthik after his cracking innings of 46 from 27 balls.

Amit Mishra was caught behind off the first ball he faced as Symonds finished with three for 21 in four overs, to leave Delhi 14 to get from the last over.

Vaas got off to the desired start in the final over when he bowled Yogesh Nagar with a full delivery for 1. Off the very next delivery Sarabjit Ladda was run-out for a duck by a direct hit from Vaas at the non-striker's end.

Delhi Daredevils finished on 161 for nine in their 20 overs and lost the match by 10 runs.

Symonds was again superb with the ball as he claimed three for 21 in four overs while Vaas was miserly as ever, taking one for 21 in four overs.

With three losses on the trot, Delhi are now struggling at sixth in the table with four points from five matches. Deccan's charge continues as they moved to second in the table with six points from four games.

Photograph: IPL/Getty Images