Deccan defeat Kings XI by 82 runs

Riding on a brilliant knock of 95 runs by Shikhar Dhawan, Deccan Chargers (DC) defeated actor Preity Zinta?s Kings XI Punjab by 82 runs in a league-level encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing Deccan Changers’ score of 198 runs for the loss of two wickets, the Kings were all out at 116 runs in just 19 overs of the game.

Skipper A Gilchrist tried to give some momentum to the run chase with his fast 51 runs from 37 deliveries but he ran out of proper support from the other end of the crease.

Gilchrist hit six boundaries and two over boundaries in the match.

PC Valthaty (5), SE Marsh (13), KD Karthik (11), R McLaren (9) did not add much with their long handles on Saturday and the entire team was sent back to the pavilion in just 19 overs by the Chargers.

Leg spinner A Mishra bowled exceptionally well for Deccan Chargers on Saturday night as he took four wickets by giving away just nine runs in his four overs.

Earlier, batting first Deccan batters dominated the match all through with the two openers, Dhawan and DB Ravi Teja scoring a partnership of 131 runs.

While Dhawan remained unbeaten at 95 runs, Teja scored 60 runs before losing his wicket to Valthaty.

Teja hit five boundaries and two over boundaries in the match.

CL White remained unbeaten on 15 runs while Duminy scored 12 runs with the bat.

But the star of the evening was Dhawan who scored 95 runs from just 57 deliveries.

Kings XI Punjab bowlers and and fielders looked absolutely sloppy in the field as they kept on mis-fielding and dropping catches in the match adding more pressure on to themselves.

Kings XI Punjab?s defeat removed even the small hope they had in qualifying to the next round of the tournament.