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Punjab serve warning

CRIClNFO, undated
Despite having little to play for in this dead rubber, Kings XI | Punjab put on an imposing performance against the Deccan Chargers at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Friday and gave the other teams plenty to think about ahead of the semifinals.
Though the match went down to the last over, Punjab's openers had done enough to keep their side on the top through the innings. Shaun Marsh and Kumar Sangakkara injected a dash of nitro fuel to the run chase, adding 50 in 3.5 overs. That only one in the first six overs went for less than 10 runs is an indication of how brutal their assault was. Marsh picked up from where he had left off against Mumbai while Sangakkara gave no sign of the fact that injury had forced him out of the last five games.
The first four balls of the innings - going for three runs - were clearly an ominous calm before the storm. Marsh whacked the fifth for four through mid-off and hooked the final one for a massive six over backward square leg.
Adam Gilchrist, the Deccan captain, replaced RP Singh with Venugopal Rao in the third over, like he successfully did against Mumbai. This time the change was disastrous because instead of getting a wicket, Venugopal was hit for a four to long-off and a six over midwicket. PVijaykumar was taken for 15 runs in his second over that included an exquisite shot by Marsh - with his left elbow high and perpendicular to the pitch, he lifted a fuller ball on off stump to long-on for six. Sangakkara also punished Scott Styris with a six and a four but in Styris's next over Punjab's rungraph began to curve downwards. He conceded only four runs and the wickets began to fall soon after.
The introduction of spinners Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha gave Dcccan some hope of replicating the Bangalore Royal Challengers' shock win over the Chennai Super Kings earlier in die week. Sangakkara swept Rohit's
first ball for four to fine leg to reach his fifty off 23 balls • for the second time in the tournament - but when he tried to loft him down the ground, Sangakkara failed to middle the shot and fell to Chamara Silva at long-on.
Marsh and Yuvraj. Singh were circumspect against the spinners and Yuvraj fell, trying to break loose, when he tried to slog Ojha and RP took a difficult catch at midwicket. Marsh fell three overs later and was soon followed by Luke Pomersbach, who top-edged to Rohit at extra cover. But Mahcla Jayawardene and Piyush Chawla wrapped up the game with no more hiccups.
Deccan had put on a credible battingdisplayandiftheyhadbeen able to contain Marsh and Sangakkara, the match could have gone down the wire.
Deccan's openers took advantage of Punjab's innocuous opening bowlers and added 79 in f 1.1 overs. Gilchrist and Hcrschelle Gibbs punished the bad balls early in the innings. When VRV Singh bowled full and wide, Gilchrist drove him for fours through extra
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cover and mid-off. Gibbs, who was uncomfortable against Srecsanth's swinging deliveries, attacked successive balls drifting onto his pads, flicking through midwicket and nudging past fine leg. He rounded off the third over, which went for 12 runs, with a perfectly timed drive through extra cover.
The two were cautious for a brief period when the spinners came on. scoring only six runs off 12 balls, but a restless Gibbs then decided to turn on the aggression by stepping out and slogging Ramesh Powar for six over midwicket and lofting Chawla for two sixes over long-on. Gilchrist, who was troubled by Chawla's goog-lies, attacked Yuvraj, going inside-out over mid-on for a six. Both were bowled going for big across-the-line hits - Gibbs trying to slog Gagandeep Singh and Gilchrist sweeping Powar.
Deccan were aided by some shoddy work by the Punjab fielders. Powar fumbled his dive and allowed a Gilchrist shot to go over the line, while Sreesanth gave away runs with mis-fields at third man and fine leg. Then there was VRV who only halfheartedly tried to go for a catch at long-off off Rohit That dropped catch proved costly for Punjab as Rohit hit 32 off two overs soon after the reprieve.
Punjab's only motivation, going into this match, was to play for ranking in the final four and this win will ensure they are that much closer to it SCORES IN BRIEF
DECCAN CHARGERS: 175 for 4 in 20 overs (Gilchrist 50, Gibbs 44, Sharma 50, Rao 2, Silva 23 not out, Styris 1 not out; Sreesanth 1-29, VRV Singh 1-40, Powar 1-20, Gagandeep 1-33)
KINGS XI PUNJAB: 178 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Marsh 60, Sangakkara 50, Yuvraj 17, Pomersbach 13, Jayawardene 14 not out, Chawla 16 not out; Styris 1-36, Sharma 1-25, Ojha2-30)
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets.
Man-of-the-match: Shaun Marsh. Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and SJ Davis (Australia).
Toss: Kings XI Punjab.