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Deccan Chargers kept their semi-final hope alive by beating Rajasthan Royals in an IPL encounter played at Kimberley on Monday (May 11). Put in to bat first the Chargers posted a challenging total of 166 runs in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, the Royals were bundled out for 113 runs in 19.3 overs. This is the first victory for Deccan Chargers over Royals in three IPL matches. With this, the Chargers have moved to third spot on the IPL table.
The Chargers could score a high total mainly because of some fiery batting from Dwayne Smith and Andrew Symonds. Smith blasted 47 runs off 32 balls while Symonds scored 30 from just 19 balls. Sri Lankan pacer Chamida Vaas (20 off 15) also put a good performance with the bat. While chasing such a challenging target, the Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen could not handle the bowlers of Hyderabad team. Chamida Vaas was excellent with his swinging deliveries. He made early inroads for Chargers by dismissing intimidating Graeme Smith with his first ball in the second over of the match.
Apart from Vaas, young Rohit Sharma also bowled beautifully to pick up three wickets by conceding just 12 runs. Swapnil Asnodkar was the top scorer from Royals' side. He made 44 runs before getting run out. Pragyan Ojha took the vital wicket of Yusuf Pathan (6) and after that the Royals could come back in the match. The man-of-the-match award was given to Dwayne Smith for his sparkling knock. Chargers now have 12 points from 10 matches while Royals are on 11 points with only three matches left.
