Rohit (51 off 46) and Mohnish Mishra (41 off 30) resurrected the Deccan innings with the 60-ball valuable partnership to guide the defending champions to 151 for six after Dale Steyn (3/18) did the early damage with three quick wickets.
Adam Gilchrist failed with the bat yet again but his sound captaincy skills came to his rescue once more at the VCA Stadium here on Monday.
Gilchrist marshalled his troops with elan to ensure that his side beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 13 runs to further complicate things as far as the points table is concerned.
The victory took ‘hosts’ DC to 12 points from as many games and it now means that the tussle for the 3 remaining semifinal slots involves as many as five teams.
Chasing 152 on a wicket which wasn’t exactly a batsman’s paradise, RCB threw it away after the old guard of Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis added a crucial 74 for the second wicket.
Robin Uthappa, who was ignored for the World T20, had another opportunity to rub it in. However, he perished after hitting a 20-ball 34.
Harmeet Singh was the man who turned it around for Deccan in the 19th over. With 18 required off 12, the sardar gave away just one run besides dismissing Uthappa and Dale Steyn off consecutive deliveries.
Ryan Harris, who had 17 runs to bowl with, ensured there won’t be heartbreak for his side. The right-arm pacer shattered R Vinay Kumar’s timber before last man KP Appanna was run-out off the fourth ball. RP Singh and Purple Cap holder Pragyan Ojha also took two wickets apiece.
The RCB innings had gotten off a horrendous start after Manish Pandey paid the price for fishing at a wide delivery from Ryan Harris. Dravid and Kallis batted coolly and collectively for a little over 10 overs.
Nagpur’s ‘son-in-law’ Dravid was easily the more aggressive of the two. So hell-bent was he on ensuring the momentum never shifted, that he played a suicidal loft to deep long-off when on 49 to hand Andrew Symonds his first wicket of the evening.
The dismissal, which was against the run of play, brought some life into the DC dugout that was witness to some supreme batting.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma mixed caution with aggression, innovation, elegance and cheekiness in the right proportions against Royal Challengers Bangalore and served a sumptuous fare for the 30,000-odd who turned up.
The 22-year-old, who walked into face Dale Steyn’s hat-trick ball in the very first over, compiled a 46-ball 51 to take his side to a respectable 151 for six on a wicket which wasn’t exactly a batsman’s paradise.
Rohit paddled, cut and pulled the wily Jacques Kallis to fetch three boundaries on the trot in the 12th over during his 82-run stand with Monish Mishra who cracked an aggressive 30-ball 41 which had three humongous sixes and a four.
But alas, their promising stand was cut short after Mishra failed to pay heed to Rohit’s call thereby causing an ugly mix-up. And it was Steyn who unleashed a superb throw at the ‘keeper’s end to effect the dismissal.
Steyn’s angled 140-plus delivery kissed Gilchrist’s blade before landing in Uthappa’s gloves. The very next ball, the in-form T Suman was welcomed with a short one which he awkwardly poked to Ross Taylor at short leg.
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