May 10, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1429

JAIPUR, May 9: Deccan Chargers failed to capitalise on Adam Gilchrist’s useful knock and managed 140 for eight after being put in to bat in their Indian Premier League match against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Friday night.

The Chargers lost opener Herschelle Gibbs (19 off 20 balls) and Scott Styris (13 off 11) before they could make much of an impact.

But that did not distract skipper Gilchrist who scored at ease playing some electrifying strokes. He gathered 61 runs off just 49 balls and laid a solid foundation for the Chargers. His entertaining knock included nine fours and a six.

The Chargers’ stand-in skipper got out in the 14th over while trying to slash a wide delivery from paceman Siddharth Trivedi but ending up edging it to wicket-keeper Mahesh Rawat.

The Chargers lost their way after the Aussie great’s dismissal as Shahid Afridi (1), Rohit Sharma (5) and Sanjay Bangar (3) were sent packing by a disciplined Royals’ attack which was aided by some fine fielding.

The visitors then lost wickets of D. Ravi Teja (6) and R.P. Singh (2), but Venugopal Rao (23 off 11) stayed at the other end and his late assault helped his side touch the 140 mark. He hit three fours and a six in his cameo knock.

For the hosts, skipper Shane Warne was the pick of the bowlers returning two for 20, while Trivedi was impressively economical conceding only eight runs in his three overs.—Agencies