Rainy conditions prevailed through out the day at Newlands. After a rain curtailed first match which saw an emphatic victory for Delhi against Punjab, the Hyderabad vs. Kolkata match had a delayed start after the floodlights at the stadium went faulty.
The Buchanan appointed Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and on a pitch, which assisted the bowlers, he surprisingly opted to bat first.
The first ball of RP Singh's over resulted in the dismissal of the Kolkata captain. McCullum tried a glance down to fine leg only to glove the ball to Adam Gilchrist. Chris Gayle, after scoring a four and six consecutively off RP Singh, went for one shot too many, holding out to Harmeet Singh at long off.
A struggling Ganguly was soon to follow. He was out in his archetypal fashion, attempting a flashing drive and edging a Harmeet Singh delivery to Laxman in the slips. Kolkata were limping at 16/3.
A mini partnership was taking place between Chopra and Hodge before Chopra was out, stumped to a well-crafted ball by Ojha. The wily left arm spinner struck again by luring Shukla out of the crease only to find the bails removed by Gilchrist.
Running out of partners, Hodge carried on with his innings scoring 31 runs until he became the next man to go. After scoring two boundaries off Scott Styris, he was out to a sharp reflex catch by Gibbs. In the same over, Scott Styris sent Henriques back to the pavilion thanks to an impressive catch by Rohit Sharma at short-covers.
The dismissal brought Agarkar to the crease. However, he did not stay long. After hitting a massive six, Agarkar was run-out to a brilliant fielding effort by Rohit Sharma again. RP Singh finished off the Kolkata tail by picking up Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda. Kolkata could only manage 101 runs.
The Hyderabad openers went about the chase in the manner as expected from them. Boundaries flowed freely from both the openers' bats. However, the commentator's curse struck Gilchrist when he skied a mistimed pull and was brilliantly held by Henriques.
Laxman started off well scoring at a quick rate. However, confusion with Gibbs resulted in his run-out.
Rohit Sharma joined Gibbs and together the put on a prosperous partnership. Agarkar was introduced prior to the strategy break and was taken for 17 runs in his over.
The pair of Gibbs and Sharma carried on after the break scoring at a quick run rate. Together they took the Deccans to victory after scoring the required runs in just 13.1 overs. Gibbs remained unbeaten on 43 while Rohit Sharma was not out on 36.
Post Match Quotes:
McCullum: The runs were just not enough. We just weren't up to the standards. The top order struggled and Deccan handled the conditions very well. We never really gave the pitch any opportunity to play to our strengths.
Glichrist: It was an ideal start, something we've been working towards. We've had the intensity that you saw today in our training camp, and we've tried to learn from the experience last year. It was fantastic to see the guys unveil their fielding skills today, and we need to replicate this in the future matches.
RP Singh (MoM): It's an amazing feeling. It's a much better wicket than the ones in India with some bounce and swing. Edwards set the tone, he bowled superbly from the other end.
Interesting Facts:
RP Singh's bowling figures of 4/22 happens to be his best bowling figures in IPL.
RP Singh's four-wicket haul happens to be the first ever in the Deccans' team.
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