Win over MI was a character-building exercise: Gilchrist

Victory over Indians was a character-building exercise, says Chargers skipper Gilchrist

Victory over Indians was a character-building exercise, says Chargers skipper Gilchrist

Deccan Chargers snatched a dramatic 12-run win over Mumbai Indians on Saturday to charge to the top of the Indian Premier League with a maximum six points from their three matches.

"I'm thrilled that we won today," Chargers' skipper Adam Gilchrist said. "We were really tested in this game after our last win. This was a character-building exercise and I'm just delighted the younger players came through this real stiff test."

Pragyan Ojha (right) celebrates Sachin Tendulkar's wicket with Venugopal Rao. PIC/AFP

Meanwhile, Tendulkar was not at all disappointed and did not want to make any excuses for his team's loss.
"I thought we were doing well up to the 10th over, but did not get the momentum going after the break. The 11th and 12th overs are crucial after the break and we lost wickets. The long break our last game was on the April 18 in Cape Town did not help our cause as well. In between the Rajasthan Royals game was washed out.

"But credit goes to the Chargers the man who did the trick was Pragyan Ojha who bowled well."

Chargers' six points from three games is more than they earned from their complete programme last year when they finished at the bottom of the table with just four points.

After scoring 168-9 off their allotted 20 overs, the Chargers were put to the sword by a scintillating 82-run second wicket stand between Sachin Tendulkar and Jean-Paul Duminy off just 60 balls, but they pulled themselves well to restrict the Mumbai Indians to 156-7 off their 20 overs to steal a dramatic win.

Ojha is the man

The tie had all the elements of dishing up the best in this form of the game and the players on both sides came to the party. But it was the Chargers, who came through, thanks largely to Pragyan Ojha, who started the rot in the Mumbai Indians innings.

After removing Tendulkar (36 off 27b 3x4s 2x6s) the Mumbai side hit an unstoppable slide as Duminyu00a0 fell at 105-3 and though Dwayne Bravo (21) and Harbhajan Singh (20) offered some resistance it was too little too late.

Ojha bowled tightly to take 3-21 while Fidel Edwards grabbed 2-27 and RP Singh also made his mark with 2-27 off his four overs.u00a0

Deciding to bat first after Gilchrist won the toss, Chargers got off to a superb start but were shell-shocked by some superb quick bowling from Dwayne Bravo and Lasith Malinga, who between them took six wickets to pegged their final score to 168-9 off 20 overs.