May 17, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1429

NEW DELHI, May 16: Amit Mishra stamped his second hat-trick of the tournament as Delhi Daredevils upset Deccan Chargers by 12 runs to end their losing streak in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday (also partly reported in Friday’s edition).

Chasing 195 for victory, the Chargers did not have a single match-winning knock but they put together a sequence of useful contributions to get near the target before finally ending at 182 for nine.

Mishra removed Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha and R.P. Singh off successive balls in a dramatic final over to record the second hat-trick of the tournament. His figures were 4-0-17-5.

Earlier, half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir (79) and Shikhar Dhawan (68 not out) powered Delhi Daredevils to an impressive 194 for 4 off the allotted 20 overs.

Adam Gilchrist (14) and Shahid Afridi (33) walked in to spearhead the Deccan riposte and the swashbuckling duo looked in tremendous hurry to conclude things.

To make it worse for the hosts, Dinesh Karthik spilled an edge from Gilchrist off Mohammad Asif before Glenn McGrath cut short his compatriot’s stay in the third over.

There, however, was no shortage of firepower as Herschelle Gibbs (22) seemed keen to make amends for his string of poor shows and smote McGrath for two sixes as he decided to match Afridi shot for shot.

Things looked quite ominous for the hosts before Mishra did the trick. He struck with his first ball as Afridi perished at point and, in his next over, the leggie sent down a googly which got the better of Gibbs’ defence, ending the Protea’s run-a-ball knock. Afridi’s 14-ball cameo was studded with three fours and two sixes.

Rohit Sharma (35) continued his rich run of form, getting 19 runs off a Rajat Bhatia over but a moment of madness and a fluffed paddle sweep brought his downfall as a Ferveez Maharoof ball disturbed the stumps behind him. He struck three fours and two sixes.

Scott Styris (29) and Y Venugopal Rao (34 off 18 balls) almost accomplished the task before falling in quick succession and with their dismissal, Chargers’ hopes for their third win in the tournament vanished as the visitors lost quick wickets towards the end with Mishra being the main destroyer.

Summarised scores:

DELHI DAREDEVILS 194 for 4 in 20 overs (Gautam Gambhir 79, Shikhar Dhawan 68 not out; Pragyan Ojha 2-19); DECCAN CHARGERS 182 for 9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 35, Venugopal Rao 34, Shahid Afridi 33, Scott Styris 29; Amit Mishra 5-17).—Agencies