Deccan Chargers Maul Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs

Kimberley: Deccan Chargers win a crucial game by 53 runs, Rajasthan would have been pleased with their performance in the first 15 overs when they bowled but the late onslaught from Smith took Deccan to a challenging score.

The move to bring in Chaminda Vaas worked, as he contributed with the bat before taking two crucial early wickets. RP Singh was on-song as well, and Symonds chipped in with some quick runs and tight seam-up bowling. The win helps Deccan leapfrog Rajasthan in the table, they are now in third while Rajasthan slip to fourth.

Rohit Sharma took 3 wickets as Deccan Chargers beat Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs to win the 40th match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Monday.

Chasing a victory target of 167 runs, Rajasthan were bundled out for 113 runs in 19.3 overs as Deccan registered their biggest victory margin in this IPL. Dwayne Smith was adjudged the Man of the Match for his quickfire 47.

Swapnil Asnodkar top scored for Rajasthan with a valiant 44 before being run out and Yusuf Pathan scored 6 runs before hitting a Pragyan Ojha delivery to long-off for Dwayne Smith to take the catch.

Brief Score: Deccan Chargers 166/7 (Smith 47, Symonds 30, Yusuf 3-34) beat Rajasthan Royals 113 (Asnodkar 44, Rohit 3-12) by 53 runs.

Numbers Game

• 10 - Number of wickets that part-time offspinner Rohit Sharma has in the tournament.
• 164.61 - Dwayne Smith's strike-rate, the best among batsmen scoring more than 200 runs.
• 53 - Biggest margin of victory in terms of runs for Deccan.
• 8 - Number of batsmen with more than ten sixes.