Royal Challengers post 4th win in IPL

Hyderabad, May 25 (UNI) Powered by a late burst of 30 runs from 10 balls, Royal Challengers cruised to a five-wicket win, their fourth victory in the Indian Premier League as Deccan Chargers failed to break the jinx at the hometurf at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket stadium here tonight.

After restricting Deccan Chargers to 165, Royal Challengers skipper Rahul Dravid (31) with Misbah-ul-Haq (34) steered the side halfway through before White (31 not out) and Akhil (27 not out) in their unbroken sixth wicket partnership spelled the doom for the hosts with six balls to spare.

The 19th over yielded 21 fruitful runs for the Royal Challengers as Akhil hammered Chamara Silva for three sixes to seal the match in his team's favour.

Adam Gilchrist (46) decided to take the strike first. With Herchelle Gibbs (47), he added 101 runs for the opening wicket, the second century partnership of the Deccan Charger openers in the IPL.

Dravid sprung a surprise introducing Anil Kumble, who finally broke the opening partnership by consuming Gibbs (47 off 34 balls) in the 11.2 over. Gilchrist (46 runs of 37 balls) followed him seven balls later, giving Vinay Kumar, the Man of the Match, the first of the three wickets.

Once the openers left, barring Rohit Sharma (17) and Venugopal Rao (26), both victims of Vinay Kumar, the Deccan Chargers could add only 57 runs in the last nine overs, losing the rest of the wickets.

Winning team skipper Rahul Dravid attributed the victory to bowlers who restricted the Deccan Chargers in the last 10 overs even though they were hampered by the absence of Saheer Khan and Praveen Kumar, their regular opening bowlers.

The Royal Challengers, who now have eight points from four wins in the 13 matches, will take on Mumbai Indians in their last outing in the IPL.

The Deccan Chargers were left at the basement with four points and will complete the formality of facing Chennai Super Kings in their last encounter here on May 27.

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