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The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has sacked its secretary, Vankenna Chamundeswaranath, who had been India’s manager for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. He had been suspended in June after allegations of corruption in team selection.The decision was taken after a meeting of the ACA’s General Body in Vijayawada on Thursday. “The association was not satisfied with the explanation offered by him and asked him to appear in person but he did not do so,” ACA president G Gangaraju said. “He was also given a seven-day notice before expelling him.”Chamundeswaranath, 49, faces allegations of corruption associated with payment for selection of Andhra’s Under-19 squad and the state women’s team.A right hand middle-order batsman, he represented Andhra between 1978-1992 in 44 games. He also led Andhra in 13 matches.He entered the public eye during the World Twenty20 when, at a pre-match press conference, he intervened as the media entered into an argument with MS Dhoni, the team captain, over Sehwag’s injury.

ScorecardWhen most clubs talk of ‘survival’, it is in the context of avoiding relegation.It was, therefore, disconcerting to hear Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, talking about “the survival” of Worcestershire County Cricket Club in the aftermath of another crushing defeat.Rhodes did not mean ‘survival’ in Division One of the County Championship. He meant at all. Worcestershire, hit by floods, a small catchment area, recession and a changing world, are facing the greatest challenge in their history. Their future is uncertain.Asked about the swingeing cuts he has been asked to make for his cricket budget ahead of next season, Rhodes was typically frank. “It’s a lot of money,” he said. “The figure quoted on Cricinfo [£300,000] is right. And yes, it does make life very difficult for us.”But the most important thing is the survival of the club. We can cut back and survive. It’s the same as if I were the manager of a factory: the most important thing is to ensure the company – or in this case the club – survive. We are quite hamstrung [financially], but in a way the rebuilding job excites me.”Rhodes was talking after Worcestershire subsided to another heavy defeat; this time by an innings and 18 runs against their closest and keenest rivals. The defeat leaves Worcestershire, who long since abandoned any hope of avoiding relegation, facing the real prospect of setting a most unwanted record. They need to score 19 points from their final three games to avoid setting a new record for the lowest points total ever recorded in either division since the introduction of promotion and relegation in 2000. The current record low is 88.5 points set by Glamorgan in 2005.Worcestershire also face the possibility of going through a season without a championship win for only the second time in their history. This was their ninth loss in 13 games.”They played much better than us in all departments,” Rhodes admitted. “It’s not nice to come to Edgbaston and lose and there are a lot of disappointed and depressed people in our dressing room. But we’re determined to improve. We’ve had a chat and it ended in high spirits. All you can want as a coach is a team who own up and look to put things right. We can do better. We just need to stick together. There are still games to play and lots to play for. That might sound silly, but we have pride to play for and we want to make sure things don’t end on a really sour note.”Rhodes also admitted that Kabir Ali had requested permission to talk to other counties. “The story on Cricinfo is correct,” he said. “He’s come in and asked to speak to other clubs. He has another year on his contract but these days that doesn’t seem to matter too much. If guys don’t want to play for Worcestershire, then fine. But Kabir is a prize possession and I’m very optimistic I can turn him around. Hopefully I can reassure him and he’ll be playing for us in the future.”To rub salt into the wound, the man who showed most resistance on the final day was the departing Steve Davies. Davies produced some pleasing drives on the way to a brave half-century and added 71 for the seventh wicket with Gareth Andrew. With rain in the air, the partnership briefly raised hopes of an unlikely draw.It was not to be, however. The introduction of spin had Andrew pushing at one angled across him and edging to slip before Richard Jones pulled a long-hop down the throat of Sreesanth at deep midwicket. Davies finally played-on after mis-judging a well-disguised slower ball before Imran Arif’s missed a straight one.Any hope that the top-order batsmen would resist was quickly snuffed out in the morning. Moeen Ali fell to the 11th delivery of the day, edging his loose drive to slip, and four balls later Vikram Solanki lost his middle stump to a perfect inswinger from the exemplary Chris Woakes.Victory substantially eased Warwickshire’s relegation concerns. Inspired by another excellent demonstration of swing bowling by Woakes, Warwickshire clinched victory shortly after lunch on the final day. It was Warwickshire’s first home win of the season – and only their third in three seasons – but was enough to create a buffer between them and the worst of the relegation battle. They are not yet safe, but probably need only avoid defeat in their final two games to ensure another season of division one cricket.When the 2009 season is complete, it may be that performances against Worcestershire are deemed key. For while Warwickshire completed ‘the double’ over their neighbours – the first time since 1933 they have managed such a feat – and claimed 42 points in the process, Yorkshire, who are now most precariously placed, managed only two draws against Worcestershire and took just 21 points from the two games.Woakes was the pick of the bowlers. Swinging the ball vast distances, he finished with 9 for 83 in the match and looked head and shoulders better than anyone else on display. If you could buy shares in people, Woakes is the sort upon whom you’d bet your shirt.Talk of full international recognition is surely premature, however. He is only 20 and, in unhelpful conditions, lacks the pace or devil to prosper. In conditions such as these, however, he is lethal. He’s developing well and is in safe hands.The match was also the end of an era. By the time cricket resumes here in 2010, the old pavilion that hosted all the greats from Grace, Hobbs, Bradman et al will have gone. Within a couple of years a vast, purpose-built new pavilion will have been constructed which is aimed to ensure Edgbaston’s survival as a Test venue and Warwickshire’s survival as a club. Cricket is changing and there is a serious concern that smaller clubs such as Worcestershire may not keep up. These are worrying times.

Mark Richardson, the former New Zealand Test opener, has reopened the question over Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action by saying that he was convinced many of his deliveries were well beyond the 15-degree allowance approved by lawmakers.Richardson said he did not blame Murali for the situation but felt the ICC was not doing enough to police throwing in cricket. New Zealand are touring Sri Lanka for two Tests, two Twenty20s and an ODI tri-series. They lost the first Test by 202 runs, with Murali taking 7 for 161.”Many of his deliveries may fall around the 15 degrees but, in my opinion, too many,” Richardson, now a television commentator, wrote in his column in the . “In particular his faster deliveries appear well beyond it and since the introduction of the 15 degree allowance his action appears to have deteriorated.”I know he’s been tested, re-tested, tested again and cleared. And I know, with the special makeup of his limbs to the naked eye, his action looks worse than it is. But, for goodness sake, half of cricket is now not watched with the naked eye, thanks to the invention of super-slow-motion cameras, hot-spots, snicko and Hawkeyes. Many of the slow-motion replays I’ve seen of Murali have only strengthened my conviction he is exceeding the 15 degrees bending and straightening allowance. Is it not meant to be the other way round? Isn’t the hi-tech equipment meant to alleviate my fears?”Richardson doubted whether the numerous tests conducted by the ICC proved that Murali stayed within the 15-degree limit. “What he proved is that he can bowl within limitation, not that in the heat of battle he actually does. Cricket is not played in a laboratory. On the field it matters where and how the ball gets to the other end. In a laboratory it doesn’t, all that matters is how you delivered it.”Murali was first no-balled for his action during his first tour of Australia in 1995-96 and though he was cleared after a biomechanical analysis, the controversy didn’t die out. He was called again on the 1998-99 tour to Australia and sent for further tests in Perth and England only to be cleared again.In 2004 the ICC stopped Murali from bowling the doosra, because his arm bent by an average of 10 degrees when bowling the delivery, which was double the permitted level for spinners. But next year, the ICC tweaked the bowling laws to allow all bowlers “to straighten their bowling arm up to 15 degrees, which was established as the point at which any straightening will become visible to the naked eye”.Richardson said the ICC had to amend procedures and use the technology introduced into the game to check bowlers with suspect actions.”We can use technology to access where the ball pitched, where it may be heading, how much it bounced, turned, seamed and yet we can’t use it to access the most important thing – how it got there in the first place. Surely the technology exists for the match referee or third umpire to assess, during the game, bowling actions and take appropriate action when someone is operating outside the laws of the game.”Last November former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist also said he believed Murali had a suspect action.

India needs its players to focus more on their fitness, employ a sensible rotation policy and use the National Cricket Academy to build a bridge between its reserve pool and the senior team to counter the hectic international schedule that awaits the team from September. That’s the vision of Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, who hopes his top players can avoid the kind of burnout that forced Andrew Flintoff off Test cricket.Prasad said that cramped schedules due to the advent of Twenty20 cricket are an unavoidable reality and one international players can survive only by ensuring they stay fit to play all the matches. Asked to outline his blueprint for the Indian team over the next 12 months, Prasad said the BCCI’s pool of contracted players should have regular sessions at the NCA in Bangalore, even while the national squad is touring, so they are ready for international duty at any given point of time. He also backed a rotation policy but one applied in a judicious manner where an in-form player is not rested just for the sake of rotation.Prasad refused, however, to blame the IPL for the team’s poor performance in the ICC World Twenty20 last month and said the Indian league was the best possible preparation for the event.The Indian players are currently on a two-month break following the West Indies series, which ended on July 5. However, they face a tough stretch from September up to the next ICC World Twenty20 in May, starting with an ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka, the Champions Trophy, the Champions League, an ODI tri-series in Bangladesh, a home Test series against Sri Lanka, a home ODI series against South Africa and the third IPL in March-April.”To tackle such a schedule, you must have a good pool of players, whether they are fast bowlers, spinners or batsmen, which I think India has in terms of about 37 contracted players,” Prasad told Cricinfo. “But when the senior team is touring, what are the other players in the contracted pool doing, especially when they are not playing domestic cricket? Are they working on their fitness? Are they coming to the NCA? I have no idea.”When there is a centre of excellence like the NCA, the reserve players should regularly make use of the facilities there, in terms of a qualified physical trainer, physiotherapist and other facilities like quality nets. The NCA should not be used only for rehabilitation, as a facility that will help you recover from injuries. We have a lot of talent but you can maximise this only by becoming stronger, fitter and faster.”Regular stints at the academy, Prasad said, would also help reserve players blend more easily into the senior team when called up. “If something suddenly happens to a particular player during a series, you call in somebody from the pool. And if he has been constantly working on his fitness, he immediately fits in. But if he comes in from the cold, his performance might drop, he will develop doubts about his ability, and people will ask questions.”Prasad, a former India fast bowler, said there could be no compromise on personal fitness if today’s players want to prolong their careers. “When you play cricket at the highest level, you have to maintain your fitness and that’s absolutely essential,” he said. “That’s one area where there’s no question of compromise. We are playing enough matches, so you don’t have to keep running to the nets to work on your skills in terms of bowling and batting. It’s fitness that you have to focus on.”And obviously, if you are in the midst of a series, when you are touring, you need to again give importance to fitness in terms of fine-tuning it. If you have got a gap like what you have got now, close to two months, you need to get enough rest and recovery but, at the same time, you need to work on your fitness rigorously.”India’s fast bowling at the international level is currently being handled by Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and RP Singh with support from Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan but all of them have missed a number of games over the last year due to injuries. Sreesanth, the other fast bowler in the frame, has been out of Test cricket for over a year now due to a back injury.Prasad said he backed a rotation policy for the team’s bowling attack but it was just one of several measures that could help the team sustain their performances over the next year.”I am for rotation as a policy but then at the same time it is important to know what the mindset of that bowler is,” he said. “If somebody is bowling well, obviously he would like to play more and more and as much as possible. It’s a thin line you walk as a coach, in terms of giving him a break or getting someone else to replace him. It should be discussed with the individual before a call is taken.”Prasad, however, refused to pick on the IPL for India’s debacle in the World Twenty20, where they crashed out after failing to win a single Super Eight game. “I would not use the IPL as an excuse. I feel the players could not have asked for better preparation coming into the World Twenty20. India was the only country in the competition with 40-50 players who had played the IPL. If any one of them had been picked, they should have performed. In fact, the IPL is the best preparation they’d have got. What more do you want than being in the middle and getting to know various situations? You see, in the modern era, it is not possible to cut down on the number of matches but what the players can do is maintain their fitness so that they can play all the matches.”Prasad is also bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings, Flintoff’s IPL team, and admitted that the allrounder had given no hint of his plans when they “interacted closely” in South Africa during the league’s second season in May. Asked to comment on the larger issue that Flintoff’s retirement threw up, Prasad admitted that international players who are not able to maintain their fitness levels will now opt for the shorter, more lucrative formats of the game.”The introduction of Twenty20 has changed the scenario a bit. What I’ve been noticing is that people love playing Twenty20 because it’s a shorter form,” he said. “They might opt for Twenty20 for the monetary aspect or because it’s much easier to play. You need to play just for three or four hours a day at the most, take your money and go. There is not much of technique involved, not much of tactical ability involved. But of course, there are a whole lot of other reasons too, such as injuries and the amount of travel, family, expectations from the public, the media.”

ScorecardIt may be a match between the current top and bottom teams of the championship, Division One, but it could turn out to be one of the most exciting matches of the season. Worcestershire’s pace bowler Kabir Ali, considered unworthy of the England Test squad or even of the Lions team, continued his demolition job on the Durham batting line-up, with more than adequate help from Matt Mason, so that when play ended early due to rain with both teams having completed an innings, the home side led by a single run.Kyle Coetzer and Dale Benkenstein were at the crease as Durham resumed on their overnight score of 40 for 3. As Worcestershire had found 24 hours earlier, the struggle for survival, even for top-class batsmen, in humid conditions at Riverside is not easy. Kabir and Mason found enough movement in the air to have both batsmen defending for dear life or sighing in silent relief as they were beaten by balls that also beat the edges of their bats. The first run of the day only came in the fifth over, and the first boundary was an involuntary edge by Coetzer just past the slips off Kabir.Then, for a brief period, the runs started to flow. Perhaps the batsmen relaxed a little too soon, as the danger was not over. With the score at 56, Kabir produced a superb swinging delivery that bamboozled Benkenstein and had him edging a catch to the keeper for 25. Within minutes Mason had turned Ian Blackwell around with a fine ball of his own to bowl him for a single, and then Coetzer played a ball from Kabir on to his stumps to depart for 30. In each instance it was the full-length swinging delivery that did the trick, and Durham were reeling at 59 for 5.With the specialists gone, it was left to Phil Mustard and Liam Plunkett to lead the fightback. Plunkett rightly considers himself as a potential allrounder nowadays perhaps of the quality of Stuart Broad, and he played some handsome strokes, choosing his aggressive shots wisely as the sun shone more strongly and the conditions began to ease. Mustard gave him his head and began very slowly, and the next hour or two showed he knew what he was about. The hundred came up in the 36th over, but soon afterwards Plunkett, finally misjudging a ball from Mason outside his off stump, edged a low catch to slip and departed for 29.Callum Thorp, with a few good strokes in his 13, lent Mustard support until Kabir brought a ball back sharply off the pitch to trap him lbw – the first such decision of the match – for 13. Matthew Claydon played a rather weak shot against Kabir to be caught at the wicket, and with Durham at 171 for 9 Worcestershire must have favoured their chances of picking up a first-innings lead for the first time this season. But Mustard was still there, and he had increased his strokeplay enough to reach 50 off 82 balls. At the other end Mark Davies, despite a tendency to play the ball from square leg, stayed in there, and actually had the honour of seizing the lead for his team with a rather agricultural swat past mid-on for four. Having done that job, he played on to Chris Whelan and the innings was over with a lead of just one run. Kabir, whose bowling would have done the national side credit, finished with six good wickets for 68 runs, while Mason gave him superb support with three wickets. Were Simon Jones fit and firing, Worcestershire would indeed be a team to fear in conditions like these. If they can play a fit team and find more self-belief, they should yet prove worthy of the top division this season.By now the sun had gone and a nearby storm was advertising its intentions freely, so the umpires decided to take the players off the field and have an early tea after one uneventful ball in Worcestershire’s second innings. Although there was only a brief light shower and the light improved, play did not start after tea, and it was officially announced that play had been suspended for reasons of safety. The storm passed, but a drizzle did not, and the game will resume on the third day almost as evenly balanced as is possible. The fast bowlers have dominated the match and their performances will hold the key to the eventual result – together with the weather conditions.

Match facts

May 23, 2009
Start time 16.30 local (14:30 GMT)

Big Picture

How Bangalore’s batsmen counter Muttiah Muralitharan could decide the second semi-final•Getty Images

It’s a sign of how healthy and competitive this IPL has been that, going into the second semi-final, we don’t have a clear favourite. There really is little separating Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, primarily due to how well Bangalore have rallied in the second half of the tournament.At the halfway stage of this year’s tournament Bangalore looked to have fallen upon their besieged ways of 2008, with just two wins from seven games. In the same timeframe Chennai had won three of seven, with one match washed out. They then went on to win five in a row, prompting many to declare them surefire semi-finalists. Then they were halted by Bangalore in Durban, a thrilling match that turned around Bangalore’s fortunes. Chennai have both sputtered and smacked in recent matches, on the one hand being beaten by Kolkata Knight Riders after posting 188 yet bouncing back to clinch a low-scoring thriller over Kings XI Punjab. Bangalore have won four in a row and can rightfully stare Chennai in the eye.Past IPL form, though, may count for little during the hazards of a knock-out match and the fight could be decided by which team keeps its cool. Chennai have the practiced wiles of Muttiah Muralitharan, coming off a tremendous Man-of-the-Match game, and Matthew Hayden. Chennai’s Indian players have performed better than Bangalore’s – Suresh Raina is second to Hayden in runs scored, MS Dhoni has been consistent, the bowlers have all contributed – and on that level Chennai hold an advantage.Bangalore will rely heavily on Anil Kumble, and hope that Jacques Kallis recovers from a hamstring strain picked up in their last match. While one pair of Bangalore openers are yet to click together, the side have been handed a massive boost by young Manish Pandey’s century in the last round-robin match. Ross Taylor and Mark Boucher offer power-hitting down the order. Praveen Kumar is always a threat with his subtle changes of pace with the new ball, Kumble is always there with the ball, and Roelof van der Merwe can be relied on to keep it tight.At this stage last year, Chennai found themselves up against overwhelming favourites Punjab, but knocked them aside to make the final. Bangalore, conversely, finished last year second from bottom on the points table. Call it the south Indian Ashes, if you like, for back on the domestic circuit these two state sides enjoy a storied history. Could we have another heated battle?

Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)

Chennai Super Kings: WLWLW
In Hayden’s absence due to injury over the last two matches, Chennai posted one large total and one paltry one. His replacement, fellow Australian George Bailey, didn’t really click. Parthiv Patel, who came back to open only three matches ago, overcame a first-ball duck with two handy cameos; in fact he top scored in the last game. What Chennai really need is for Albie Morkel and Jacob Oram to contribute with the bat, though Oram could make way for Michael Hussey. The bowling was pasted in that sapping loss to Kolkata, but a revamped line-up worked wonders against Punjab. Murali is the best bowler but has been well supported by Raina, Shadab Jakati and, in the last game, R Ashwin.Royal Challengers Bangalore: WWWWL
The opening pair not firing collectively is still a concern, but Pandey’s century has really helped, statistically and psychologically. Taylor has been essential, Virat Kohli has chipped in with the odd cameo, and Dravid’s return to form last game was a plus. The lower middle order remains a worry. Praveen’s last few games have been good, but most promising has been the performance of van der Merwe and B Akhil, who have been restrictive and among the wickets.

Watch out for

Matthew Hayden: The tournament’s highest run-scorer missed two games but don’t expect him to be rusty in a match like this. Hayden’s bat has spoken in almost every game, but none more than in the last four innings he batted, each of those contributions contrasting in manner and accumulation. After bludgeoning 89 off 58 balls against Punjab, Hayden’s 48 off 44 steered a chase towards 141 versus Rajasthan. Then against Bangalore he found himself torn between domination and consolidation as Bangalore’ bowlers struck all around him. Against the Mumbai Indians, he went 12.3 overs without a boundary but finished unbeaten on 60 from 57, duly earning the Man-of-the-Match award.Murali v Bangalore’s middle order: After Kallis and Dravid, Bangalore’s batting rests on Taylor and Boucher. In the last game between these two sides Taylor negotiated Murali before targeting the rest and blasting a pivotal innings. Boucher was unable to get past Murali, falling to him for 5. Murali has been mesmeric since then, and will fancy himself against Boucher, Kohli and van der Merwe, who also looked out of depth against him.Anil Kumble v MS Dhoni: India’s former and current captain will square off in a match with high stakes. Both have led their sides with tact and guile, not least Kumble who came in after Kevin Pietersen left for England with Bangalore appearing hapless. Since then they have soared to the semi-finals with Kumble contributing with ball – note the match against Delhi – and with mind. From behind the stumps, Dhoni has rarely interfered with what his bowlers want to do, but his knack of knowing who to bring on and when, and what field to set for them, is critical. Dhoni has taken some good calls in seeing Chennai through to the semis again, but will have to be sharper when facing up to his Test predecessor.

Team news

Hayden will definitely return at Bailey’s expense but what Chennai could well do is draft in Hussey, who has joined the squad for the last part of the IPL. He could well slot in for Oram, who hasn’t scored runs or taken wickets. Morkel missed the last game and should come back, meaning Thilan Thushara will go back to warming the bench. Ashwin’s excellent figures against Punjab mean he will keep Jakati out as well, but it remains to be seen if Chennai revert to L Balaji – who hasn’t been successful in the last couple of games – or give Joginder Sharma another shot.Chennai Super Kings: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Parthiv Patel, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 S Badrinath, 5 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 6 Jacob Oram/Michael Hussey, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 L Balaji, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Manpreet Gony.Bangalore confidently fielded an unchanged side for the last two games, and won both. No chances foreseen here. Kallis hobbled off the field after bowling one over last game but didn’t look perturbed about missing this one.Bangalore Royal Challengers: 1 Manish Pandey, 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 B Akhil, 11 Anil Kumble (capt).

Stats and trivia

• Chennai have clearly been the stronger batting team, scoring 27.43 runs per wicket at 8.17 per over, the highest run-rate for any team. Bangalore average 21.44 at 7.34 per over. With the ball too Chennai have done better, taking 87 wickets at 21.32 and an economy rate of 7.52, to Bangalore’s 77 at 26.32 and 7.55 per over.
• Chennai have preferred batting first, winning six out of nine games when they’ve done so. When chasing, they’ve won two out of four. For Bangalore the stats are more even: three out of six when batting first, and five out of eight when chasing.
• Chennai have had ten 50-plus scores in the tournament, with Hayden getting half of them. Bangalore have managed eight, including Pandey’s hundred in their previous game.
• Not only is Hayden the highest scorer of the tournament, he has also relished the Bangalore bowling: in two innings he has scored 125 in 73 balls – average 62.50, run rate 10.27 per over.
• On the other hand Kallis, Bangalore’s top run-getter, has scored just 24 in two innings against Chennai.

Head-to-head record

Chennai outclassed Bangalore when the two sides met first this season in Port Elizabeth, thumping them by 92 runs, the largest margin of victory in the tournament so far. But then came a thriller in Durban, where Bangalore beat Chennai with two balls and two wickets to spare to keep alive their semi-final hopes in a match that lurched both ways. The teams split their two contests last year: Bangalore caving in spectacularly at the Chinnaswamy Stadium to lose by 13 runs, Chennai returning the favour at Chepauk to go down by 14 runs.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
It was a tremendous effort from the Kings XI Punjab bowlers as Yuvraj Singh bagged his second hat-trick of the tournament•Associated Press

Kings XI Punjab lived to see another day in the IPL after a tremendous bowling effort – highlighted by Yuvraj Singh’s second hat-trick of the tournament – gave them a one-run win over the Deccan Chargers off the last ball of the game. Rohit Sharma played yet another crucial innings for Deccan but Punjab fought back valiantly after a poor batting performance.Adam Gilchrist had given Deccan a brisk start of 30 in three overs. But Ramesh Powar’s entry into the attack turned things around. Powar took two in two in his first over and the scoring rate dropped considerably. But Deccan were still ahead of the required run-rate in the 12th over when Yuvraj struck with Gibbs’ wicket. He returned in the 14th to take two more and after that Deccan were playing catch-up.They needed 43 off 18 when Rohit hit two sixes and a four off Wilkin Mota to bring Deccan back in the game. Fourteen off the next over meant Deccan needed 11 off the final. Irfan Pathan, who went for 18 in his first over, was handed the ball. Rohit got an edge to go for four off the second and Pathan followed with a wide. Four needed off the last three: Rohit tried to hit to midwicket and was bowled, RP Singh survived one ball before top-edging the next to Pathan. Needing four of the final ball, Ryan Harris hit it to the off side and Brett Lee fumbled in the pick-up but Harris was never interested in the unlikely third run that would give Punjab the tie. Now Deccan have to win their next game against the Bangalore Royal Challengers to have any hope of reaching the semi-final.Powar’s introduction worked as an antidote to Pathan’s horror first over – Gilchrist pulled a short and wide one for four, hit a fuller ball for six over midwicket, drove an over-pitched delivery between point and cover for four before flicking another boundary to fine leg. Gilchrist leapt out of the crease to the first ball, pitched outside leg, looking to hit it over midwicket. But it turned sharply towards off stump and he was too far down the track to make his way back. T Suman, the new batsman, also stepped out of the crease and completely missed the line to be bowled. Andrew Symonds faced the hat-trick ball and lofted it over mid-on for a four, though he didn’t middle it.