KARACHI: Pakistan’s star all rounder Shahid Khan Afridi returned home from India on Thursday morning after playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Afridi represented Deccan Chargers in the eight-team competition where his team failed to qualify for the semi-finals. Talking to Daily Times here, Afridi said he was disappointed with his batting performance in the IPL. “This version of cricket suits my aggressive style of batting. But I took pressure in the league. I wanted to give my best in this shorter version but unfortunately I failed.” Afridi lamented that his non-performance with the bat was one of the reasons for Deccan Chargers languishing at the bottom of the table.
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Deccan Chargers, after going down to Chennai Super Kings here Tuesday, became the only team to lose all their home matches in the Indian Premier League.

Deccan Chargers is the first team to lose seven games in a row between May 9 and May 27. They have lost 12 games - the most by any team in the IPL.

Other statistical highlights of the match:

# Suresh Raina’s superb unbeaten 54 off 43 balls is his highest score in the IPL - his second 50 in the tournament. Raina’s 323 runs in IPL came at an average of 32.30

# Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with 385 runs at an average of 38.50, is the leading run-getter for his team.
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Chennai has secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a seven-wicket win over Deccan in Hyderabad overnight.

After winning the toss and batting, Adam Gilchrist’s Chargers recorded 8 for 147 off their 20 overs, Venugopal Rao (46) and Ravi Teja (40) putting on a 76-run stand.

Gilchrist’s tournament came to a disappointing end, dimissed for 5 at the top of the order.
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Deccan Chargers’ pacer R P Singh may be the leading wicket-taker in the Indian Premier League, but he is sad that his performance could not help his team reach the semi-finals.
The 22-year-old is currently the leading wicket-taker in the IPL along with Kings XI Punjab’s S Sreesanth but he is disappointed as his team is languishing at the bottom of the table, managing just two wins from 12 matches so far.

“I am obviously disappointed as our team couldn’t achieve desired results. I would have been happier had my performance helped my team get a semis berth,” the left-arm bowler said here.
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Amit Mishra is the man of the moment for Delhi. He had 15 runs to defend in the final over and he responded with a hat-trick. Mishra finished with 5 for 17, fantastic performance under pressure. He even took the crucial wickets at the top of the order - dismissing Afridi and Gibbs.

Gambhir and Dhawan set up Delhi’s total with half-centuries but Deccan were on course during their run-chase when Afridi and Gibbs were going berserk. Then they lost a few wickets but got back on track when Sharma played a fabulous innings. They once again looked out of the contest when Sharma got out and Styris struggled to build momentum but Rao’s cameo brought them within striking distance. McGrath returned to dismiss Rao in the penultimate over and that was the blow that knocked Deccan out.

The Man of the Match is Amit Mishra for two crucial wickets in his first spell and his last-over hat-trick to win the game for Delhi. He finished with figures of 5 for 17. Delhi have broken their four-match losing streak with a close win. Deccan are virtually out of the semi-finals. It will need a mathematical miracle for them to make it now.

Teams: Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers
Preview:
This will be a clash between two teams, both struggling with their form. While the Deccan Chargers are languishing at seventh spot with just two wins in nine matches, the Delhi Daredevils lost their last four matches. Delhi are still very much in the run for a semi-final spot while the Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist himself admitted that his side is out of the running in their quest for a Top 4 place.

Star Watch: Keep an eye on Herschelle Gibbs, who has had a quiet tournament so far. He is ideal for this form of cricket, and as Sanath Jayasuriya showed yesterday, one can never really write off a class player.
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Photo: Cricket.com
HYDERABAD: The beleaguered Deccan Chargers has suffered yet another jolt. Captain V.V.S. Laxman has ruled himself out of the remaining DLF-Indian Premier League owing to a hairline fracture just below the right wrist.

Just before a practice session at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, a visibly dejected Laxman said he had had another review with the orthopaedic surgeon on Monday morning and his injury was diagnosed as a hairline fracture.
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Deccan Chargers are out of IPL Semi-Final no matter what they do on rest of the tournament, they join Bangalore Royal Challengers with this loss.

After a torrid run through the first seven matches of the IPL, Sourav Ganguly the batsman finally made his presence felt, carving a 57-ball 91 to lift the Kolkata Knight Riders to an imposing 204 for 4, the highest first-innings total in the tournament since the ninth match, when the Deccan Chargers made 214 against Rajasthan Royals.

Ganguly’s decision at the toss was slightly surprising, considering all three previous matches in Hyderabad had been won by the team chasing, but their batsmen justified that decision. The start wasn’t electric - the first six overs fetched 43, and after 13 Kolkata only had 89 on the board - but the last seven overs produced 115 as Ganguly and David Hussey, who blitzed 57 off 29 balls, creamed the ball to all parts in a fantastic 102-run stand off just 48 balls.
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Knight riders looked fire for the second time after 1st IPL match.Dada display what he’s upto brilliantly supported by Hussey they reached 204 in 20 overs.Though Ganguly failed to get his 1st IPL hundred, he did enough damage when he departed on 91.
Deccan chargers need to climb Everest of 205 runs to win against good bowling side of Kolkata knight riders.

Hyderabad, May 10 (PTI) Low on morale and languishing at the bottom of table, Deccan Chargers will have to reverse their losing streak when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in a must-win match here tomorrow to remain in the reckoning.

The badly-bruised Hyderabad team which has won only two of the eight matches it has played so far are sharing the bottom spot with Bangalore Royal Challengers on four points and would have to post a few victories to remain in contention for a semi-final berth.
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