Gibbs takes Deccan to fourth win

Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers, IPL, Durban

Gibbs gives Deccan fourth consecutive win

The Bulletin by George Binoy

April 27, 2009

Deccan Chargers 169 for 4 (Gilchrist 44, Gibbs 69*) beat Chennai Super Kings 165 for 6 (Hayden 49, Oram 41*, Ojha 2-11) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Herschelle Gibbs makes room to drive, Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers, IPL, 16th match, Durban, April 27, 2009
Herschelle Gibbs was the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 69 © AFP

A tenacious display from Deccan Chargers' bowlers followed by a murderous assault from their opening batsmen secured their fourth consecutive win of the tournament and firmly established the Hyderabad side as the team to beat this season.

Pragyan Ojha once again bowled impressively - picking up two wickets in one crucial over, including that of the dangerous-looking Matthew Hayden - to restrict Chennai to merely 165 when they looked set for much more at one stage. The competitive target, however, was diminished by a withering assault from Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs. They blitzed 60 runs off the first four overs and gave their team enough cushion against a few setbacks on their way to victory.

Gilchrist dictated terms from the first over, in which he drove L Balaji to the long-off and extra-cover boundaries. Gibbs took on Manpreet Gony in the next: he charged and lofted straight down the ground for four, pulled over the fine-leg boundary and hit two more fours to midwicket and square leg to take 20 runs off the over. Balaji dropped Gilchrist - a hard caught-and-bowled chance - in the third over and paid for it by conceding 17 runs. Gilchrist deposited the ball into the stands at deep square leg, pulled another one to the midwicket boundary, and launched yet another over the straight boundary. MS Dhoni brought Albie Morkel into the attack but there was barely any improvement as Gilchrist drilled him to the cover boundary and whacked him over the rope at square leg.

With the fast bowlers bleeding runs, Dhoni turned to spin and the breakthroughs came from the unlikeliest of operators. Suresh Raina struck twice with his offbreaks, inducing both Gilchrist, who clobbered 44 off 18 balls, and VVS Laxman to cut to short third man. Deccan had gone from 67 for 0 to 75 for 2 and they scored only 25 runs between overs six and ten. However, the early momentum provided by Gilchrist and the steady half-century from Gibbs, who batted through the innings, ensured that the lull did not do irreparable damage. Gibbs shifted to a lower gear but ensured that he was on strike when eight runs were needed off the last over. The first ball was full from Balaji, Gibbs got under it and heaved it over the deep midwicket boundary to ease Deccan's nerves.

A larger target would have stretched Deccan, given that they had only three balls to spare, and Ojha's double-breakthrough in the 13th over played a crucial role in keeping Chennai to 165. Hayden was at his bullying best, stepping out and muscling bowlers across the quick outfield at Kingsmead. Parthiv Patel continued the odd trend of teams losing a wicket before scoring a run but the early loss did not faze Hayden. He attacked RP Singh, the league's highest wicket-taker, immediately by walking down to swat him to the midwicket boundary and to cut over point. The extra pace and bounce of Fidel Edwards didn't make a difference either and Hayden advanced and powered him through the off side.

Hayden found an attacking partner in Suresh Raina but both batsmen were lucky to survive dropped catches. Raina was let off by debutant Azhar Bilakhia at gully when he was on two and Gilchrist grassed a tough chance to his left when Hayden was on 17. They made Deccan pay for their lapses during a 64-run stand for the second wicket.

Ojha repeated his performance against Mumbai Indians soon after the tactical time-out. Against Mumbai, he took three wickets in successive overs and today he managed to dismiss both Dhoni and Hayden in one. Chennai slipped from 102 for 2 to 103 for 4 in the space of three balls. Curiously Gilchrist didn't give Ojha another over and he finished with figures of 2 for 11 in two overs.

Jacob Oram, who replaced the injured Flintoff, provided Chennai with acceleration towards the end of the innings, hitting the debutant Shoaib Ahmed for massive sixes down the ground. Oram helped Chennai take 20 runs off the 18th over but their total proved too little against Deccan's in-form batting line-up.

Gibbs century sets up series win

South Africa began the series as the world's No. 1 ODI side and they will finish it in the same position after Herschelle Gibbs' 21st one-day international century helped them to an unassailable 3-1 series lead in Port Elizabeth. Gibbs's near-even time innings of 110 repaid the faith placed in him by South Africa after a stint in rehab late last year, propelling them to a commanding 317 for 6. Australia, who again battled against the spin of Roelof van der Merwe, were seldom in the hunt.

The 61-run victory ensured Graeme Smith's men the honour of becoming the first team to triumph in three successive bilateral ODI series against Australia - a streak that dates back to their historic victory in the 438 match in Johannesburg three years ago. It also means that when the teams return to the Wanderers for Friday's fifth and final match, it will be to contest a dead rubber.

An out-of-form Australia were always likely to be on the back foot in Port Elizabeth and they took a couple of gambles by sending South Africa in and choosing Shane Harwood, who was their third oldest ODI debutant of all time. The former punt looked increasingly ill-advised throughout the morning session, as powerful innings from Gibbs and AB de Villiers, who made 84 from 74 deliveries, ensured a hefty total that left Australia little margin for error in their ensuing run chase.

For a while, they were faultless. Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke clicked as a combination for the first time in the series in a 129-run stand - the highest opening partnership in ODIs at the venue. But when both men fell shortly before the halfway mark, the faultlines appeared and South Africa regained their grip on the match. After Gibbs, at 35, had earlier proved he still had much to offer to ODI cricket, it was a man at the opposite end of his career who led South Africa's bowling effort.

Van der Merwe was playing just his third one-day international and, after collecting three wickets in the Cape Town win, again troubled the middle order to finish with 3 for 46. Clarke (50) played the wrong line and was bowled and van der Merwe quickly added Callum Ferguson and Michael Hussey in a five-over period that completely altered the game.

Haddin's aggressive approach imbued Australia with hope and he batted instinctively in compiling 78 from 61 balls, including four sixes. But after he holed out to long-on off Johan Botha it was a steady decline for Australia and the tail succumbed to Dale Steyn, who finished with 4 for 44. The chase was always going to be difficult after Gibbs and de Villiers dominated with the bat.

They kept the scoreboard moving at better than a run a ball during their 136-run third-wicket partnership and, not for the first time this series, Australia's bowlers failed to offer any real threat through the middle overs. The biggest worry was the spin combination of Nathan Hauritz and Clarke, who between them sent down ten overs for 73.

Both men suffered at the hands of Gibbs, who posted his first ODI century in 14 months - the most recent had come against West Indies in Johannesburg last February. Gibbs dispatched both slow bowlers into the stands and de Villiers sent consecutive Hauritz deliveries over the long-on and midwicket boundaries as he became the aggressor in the partnership.

Nathan Bracken also came in for some rough treatment and his ten overs cost 64 as the South Africans advanced at him with little fear. Gibbs attacked Bracken early with a pair of boundaries, including a slap over long-on after advancing down the pitch, and also took to Johnson with a slash forward of point.

It was an innings that alternated between frenetic and controlled and, on the whole, Gibbs waited for his opportunities in a composed effort. His hundred came from 106 deliveries with a clip for two off Harwood, who at 35 is the same age as Gibbs, yet was making his debut. Harwood won his spot because of a fractured foot suffered by Brett Geeves during the loss in Cape Town.

He was plucked from his Rajasthan Royals training camp and was preferred to Ben Laughlin as an attacking option. So last-minute was the selection that Harwood wore Marcus North's shirt when he became the third oldest Australian, after Bob Simpson and Bob Holland, to make his ODI debut.

He collected 2 for 57 - his wickets were JP Duminy from the last ball of the innings and Jacques Kallis - but like all his colleagues it was too difficult to contain Gibbs and de Villiers. Gibbs was the centurion but de Villiers was every bit as important to his team's triumph. He went after the spinners, swept effectively and continued a brilliant run of form - he has averaged 65.50 in his eight ODIs against Australia

Not surprisingly, his team enjoyed success over the same period. Over the past three months the ODI scoreline reads: South Africa 7, Australia 2. It's only fitting that South Africa remain the No. 1 ranked team in the world. They have earned it.