Jean-Paul Duminy struck five sixes and four boundaries to score 74 off 53 balls © AFP
Hyderabad: May 20, 2012
South African all-rounder JP Duminy cracked a strokeful 53-ball 74 as Deccan Chargers recovered from a shaky start to post a modest 132 for seven against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial Indian Premier League match.
Duminy smashed four fours and five sixes and stitched 71 runs in 46 balls with Parthiv Patel (16) to help Deccan recover from 30 for 3 to post a respectable total.
In pursuit of their playoff berth of the IPL-V, RCB bowlers put brakes on Chargers batsmen right from the word go and not only claimed their wickets at regular intervals but also succeeded in slowing the run-rate after stand-in skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field.
Deccan had a disastrous start with three of their batsmen -- Shikhar Dhawan (5), Akshath Reddy (7) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (15) -- being dismissed within the first five overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium at Uppal here.
Duminy and Sangakkara then tried to steady the innings with a 31-run partnership off 41 balls before the latter fall to compatriot Muttiah Muralitharan in the 12th over.
Duminy then single-handedly took the attack to the opposition and sent the bowlers for a leather hunt to rack up runs in quick time.
The South African was particularly harsh on Murali in the 18th over, when he smashed the spinner for three sixes to pile up 20 runs.
Duminy was finally dismissed by Zaheer Khan in the next over when he failed to get rid off a full toss and was caught by substitute KP Appanna.
R Vinay Kumar was the pick of the bowler, caliming three for 22, while Zaheer took two for 30. Murali and Prasanth Parameswaran claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, Zaheer struck the first blow in the very first over by bowling out in-form opening batsman Dhawan for five runs. Even as Khan was appealing for a LBW, the ball had kissed the top of the bail and went to the wicketkeeper.
Dhawan's opening partner, Akshath Reddy who played attacking knock in the last match against Rajasthan Royals too fell cheaply as he was caught behind by wicket-keeper AB de Villiers off Vinay Kumar in the fourth over.
Attacking batsmen Cameron White also did not last long as he gave a simple catch to Mayank Agarwal at square leg when he went for a pull shot off left-arm seamer Parameshwaran. After six overs the score read 23-3.
Duminy who joined his skipper after the fall of White's wicket kept on the score ticking with singles and boundaries now and then. At the half-way mark Chargers had scored 47 losing three wickets.
Sangakkara, who tried to accelerate the score, was dismissed while trying to lift the ball over the long off boundary only to be caught by Vinay Kumar at the edge of the boundary.
Undeterred by regular fall of wickets at the other end, Duminy kept dealing in fours and sixes and put on 71 runs for the fifth wicket with Parthiv to help the hosts reach the three-mark figure. (PTI)
Brief Scores: DC 132 for 7 from 20 overs (JP Duminy 74; R Vinay Kumar 3 for 22, Zaheer Khan 2 for 30) vs RCB
