Deccan Chargers (DC) registered their first win in the IPL season V after they beat Pune Warriors India (PWI) at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune on Thursday, bringing end to their agonies and frustration. After misfiring throughout the tournament, Cameron White finally delivered in a big way to pave the way for his team to come out of the pit.

Odds were stacked up against DC and pre-match prediction had the balance inclined towards PWI’s favour. Even though they were missing the services of their most potential match winner, Dale Steyn, they did well to curtail Pune after putting up a good show with bat.

Here are some of the performances that had a significant role to play in the outcome of the match.

Hits and flops of Deccan Chargers:

Cameron White: He has a price tag of $1.1 m attached to his name. But he wasn’t able to perform up to the tag and do justice to his talent until Thursday. He suffered in the tournament but at last played a major role in helping DC register their first win of the season. He was on a six hitting spree and hit five sixes in his 46 balls innings which fetched him 78 runs. His innings also was laced with six fours.

Collective bowling performance: Even though they were defending a good target, they knew Pune has batsmen in their arsenal who make the target look very small. So sensing the urgency, DC bowlers bowled according to the need of the hour. They kept the run rate in check and got wickets on regular occasion. They hardly let the Pune batsmen to break free and look really intimidating.

Flop:

Kumar Sangakkara: The skipper is going a rough patch in this year’s IPL. Lot is being expected from him but he is not able to deliver on the expected lines. He failed in his earlier matches and yesterday tried to experiment and came out to bat at number 4. But that failed too as he could score only 12 runs of 14 balls.

Hits and flops of Pune Warriors:

Steven Smith: He sure wants to come into reckoning through this tournament. He has played some great knocks in the tournament and even on Thursday when his team was collapsing like nine pins he entertained the crowd with his clean hitting which at a point did raise optimism in the PWI camp. But he could not carry on. Nevertheless he still scored 26 at a strike rate of 200 and his knock included three meaty blows over the ropes.

Flop:

Sourav Ganguly: He was playing well and it was looking as though he is on a mission. But disaster struck him in the 10th over and he has himself to blame for it. After being put down in the point by JP Duminy, he tried slapping a short ball through the covers, but he could find the gap and gave an easy catch to the fielder. The shot lacked conviction and when the team required a partnership that was not an ideal shot to play. He scored 23 0f 20 deliveries which contained three fours and a six.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News