JOHANNESBURG: Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha claimed two wickets to keep Deccan Chargers afloat in a thrilling final of the DLF Indian Premier League against Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Sunday. Ojha saw the backs of Manish Pandey (4) and Roelof van der Merwe (32) to keep Royal Challengers down to 69 for three in 10 overs. Deccan Chargers had set a 144-run target. Jacques Kallis (16) was the first man dismissed by RP Singh who now has a record 23 wickets in the tournament. Dravid and Taylor are at the crease.
Earlier skipper Anil Kumble took four wickets, including those of Adam Gilchrist Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharmat to ensure that Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their nose ahead of Deccan Chargers.
After Kumble decided to bowl first, Deccan Chargers made 143 for six, recovering a bit from 62 for three in 10 overs. Gilchrist was bowled for 0 in the third ball of the matche while Symonds, dropped by Rahul Dravid at slip off Vinay Kumar, played on in the ninth over. T Suman was the other batsman out, caught at covers of a skyer when he tried to hit Vinay out of the ground.
Symonds, dropped at 5, made 33 brisk runs but his fall meant that Herschelle Gibbs (53 not out) and Rohit Sharma (24) shouldered the burden of giving Deccan Chargers at least a fighting total But they may rue falling short of par score by at least 25 runs against a side that is high on confidence when chasing.
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