Gilchrist scripts convincing win for Hyderabad

Gilchrist scripts convincing win for Hyderabad

With a batting order to die for, Hydebarad were in a quandary as to what would take them to get a win under their belt. Neither star power, nor the rub of the green was on their side with one win out of six games.

But after losing out in many a close contest, Hyderabad posted a convincing seven-wicket win over tournament favourites Chennai at the Chidambaram stadium here on Tuesday.

In the absence of regular skipper VVS Laxman, Adam Gilchrist led his side to victory with a bludgeoning 36-ball 54, before RP Singh led a disciplined bowling effort as Chennai were restricted to 144-7.

Stuck with a nagging problem of the top order falling apart before they knew what hit them, Hyderabad finally displayed true potential of their batting. While Gilchrist flayed the Chennai bowlers, Scott Styris (36 not out), Rohit Sharma (23) and Shahid Afridi (20 not out) all made it count with the bat. Though they need much more than this, the win was a welcome start to what looked like a withering campaign.

Desperately seeking a win to keep alive their chances in the IPL, RP and Paidikalva Vijaykumar gave Hyderabad the perfect start as both struck from either end early to remove Parthiv Patel and Srikkanth Anirudh, son of former India captain Kris Srikkanth. That the departure of Australian and Kiwi players has affected teams was vindicated for Chennai. Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram's loss has severely dampened Chennai's batting line-up, as it happened for the second time here after their dismal showing in Jaipur on Sunday.

Two dropped chances seemed the script began to go against Hyderabad, but Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs made up for them with two outstanding catches as Stephen Fleming (14) and S Badrinath's (0) dismissals further dented Chennai's progress.

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/laxman-sits-out-as-hyderabad-put-chennai-in-to-bat/31373-13.html