IPL 5: Sangakkara at his Best as DC Beat Pune
posted on May 2, 2012 9:22AM
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White's brutal hitting at the death proved to be the decisive factor as Deccan Chargers defeated Pune Warriors by 13 runs in their Indian Premier League match, in Cuttack on Tuesday.
Chasing a stiff target of 187, the visitors could manage 173 for five after Sangakkara (82; 52b, 10x4 2x6) and White (74; 45b, 4x4 4x6) bludgeoned the Pune bowlers to score 95 runs in the last six overs.
Sangakkara's partnership of 157 for the third wicket with White, which is incidentally the highest third-wicket stand in the history of IPL, ensured that home team post a massive total.
Pune, who had lost their earlier game against Hyderabad, needed a superlative effort to pull off a win on a wicket that was a bit on the slower side. Pune lost Manish Pandey to the first ball but Michael Clarke (41) and Sourav Ganguly (45) steadied the ship with a 90-run stand. However, both fell in the space of six balls to put Pune on the back foot. Steven Smith struck an unbeaten 47 but the effort was not sufficient as the Hyderabad player held their nerves to pull off a face-saving win. In the end, Pune managed 173 for five off their quota.