Deccan Chargers 186-4 (Kumar Sangakkara 82, Cameron White 74, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-22) beat Pune Warriors 173-5 (Steven Smith 47*, Sourav Ganguly 45, Shikhar Dhawan 1-9) by 13 runs.

Kumar Sangakkara lashed out at Pune Warriors’ bowlers, being well supported by Cameron White as Deccan Chargers grasped their second triumph of the IPL 2012.

Deccan Chargers blasted 186 runs with six wickets in hand at the end of the scheduled 20 overs and Pune Warriors managed 173 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Kumar Sangakkara was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his brilliant innings of 82 from just 52 balls.

The 42^nd match of the Indian Premier League was played on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack.

Earlier, the captain of Deccan Chargers, Kumar Sangakkara, won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket which looked helpful for the batsmen. The decision bounced back when they lost both their openers for just 23 runs with the consumption of 4.4 overs. Cameron White and the skipper took charge of the situation but the first got a lucky break when he was dropped by the wicketkeeper, Robin Uthappa off Wayne Parnell for 11 runs.

White was the most attacking of the two and the first fifty of the innings was posted on board in the 10^th over with a six from him. The run rate was picked up after that as 12 runs were picked in the 12^th over followed by 10 in the next. Sangakkara came into his own, dispatched 19 runs in the 15^th over off Marlon Samuels with the assistance of 4 fours and completed his fifty on the second ball of the next over with a four as well.

White achieved his half century on the fourth ball of the 17^th over and smashed 24 runs in the 18^th over off Saurov Ganguly with three consecutive sixes and a four. Sangakkara murdered Ashish Nehra for 24 runs in the 19^th over with two sixes and even fours but was clean bowled by the bowler on the sixth ball for 82 from just 52 balls with 2 sixes and 10 fours. The third wicket fell at 180 runs after a splendid partnership of 157 and Cameron White was gone without adding any run in the score. He thrashed 74 off mere 45 balls with 4 grand sixes and even fours as Deccan Chargers hammered 186 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs.

Marlon Samuels, Wayne Parnell, Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up one wicket each on a placid track.

Pune Warriors lost their first wicket without a run on the board as the skipper, Sourav Ganguly joined in with Michael Clarke who was playing his first match of the IPL 2012. The innings was stabilised by the duo as Clarke got 3 fours in the second and third over while Ganguly sent the ball rolling out of the fence twice in the fourth over. The run rate was enhanced in the sixth over and produced 17 runs with one four from Ganguly and three consecutive fours from Clarke.

The first fifty of the innings was scored in the seventh over and they contributed 90 runs partnership for the second wicket in 11.3 overs when Clarke was unluckily run out for 41 off 31 balls with 7 fours. Ganguly followed him with the addition of Six runs to the total for 45 from 40 deliveries which comprised one six and 5 fours. Steven Smith and Robin Uthappa continued the attack at a reasonable rate as the latter was dropped for 11 runs by Ankit Sharma off Ashish Reddy.

Pune Warriors required 52 runs to win the match on the last 18 balls and they managed 12 runs in the 18^th over bowled by Dale Steyn. They scored 9 runs on the first four balls of the 19^th over with a six from Uthappa who was gone for 26 on the fifth ball and Smith sent the next ball flying over the boundary for a six. The equation came to 23 off the last six balls but Pune Warriors fell short of 13 runs as Steven Smith was still in the centre with 47 off 27 balls with 2 sixes and 3 fours.

Deccan Chargers registered their second victory of the tournament and added two vital points to their tally.

Points secured by the two teams at the end of the 42^nd match of the IPL 2012:

Pune Warriors     – 8 from 10 games at a net run rate of -0.127.

Deccan Chargers –  5 form 9 games at a net run rate of -0.545.