Andrew Symonds stars in all-round effort

Andrew Symonds starred in an impressive all-round effort, racing to 35 and picking up three wickets, to help Deccan Chargers achieve their third consecutive victory in the IPL - a result in contrast to Delhi Daredevils' run in the competition, as they slipped to their third defeat in as many games despite a counter-attack from captain Dinesh Karthik. Symonds' effort was backed up by an attacking knock from Rohit Sharma, who burst into spotlight after a quiet start to the competition to take Deccan to a challenging score, which proved just about adequate for them to continue their winning ways.

Deccan will look back at three stages where they came up trumps to snatch the game. They ensured the task of posting a challenging score was achieved, as Rohit and T Suman added 60 in quick time after three threatening innings by Deccan's overseas batsmen - Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds - had been cut short by timely changes in bowling; they fought back in the middle overs after David Warner and AB de Villiers had combined to give Delhi a strong foundation for a successful chase; and they saw off a late scare from Karthik, who had raced to 46 off 27. Symonds, bowling seam-up, bagged two wickets off successive balls in the penultimate over to help seal a tight win.

During the Deccan innings, Symonds had contributed 35 in quick time, finding the boundary with ease playing the conventional shots but mistimed a slog off Moises Henriques to cover. He had his revenge later in the innings when he dismissed Henrqiues, caught at point, and followed up with that all-important 19th over, snapping Karthik with his outstretched right hand and having Amit Mishra caught-behind the next ball to ensure his team sailed through.