Suyash Srivastava
Pune: A power-packed innings from Cameron White helped Deccan Chargers register their first victory of IPL 2012 as Ganguly-led Pune Warriors disappointed the home crowd at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune.
Pune never looked like they were going to make a match of it. None of their batsmen tried to setlle down and stabilize the innings. The run-rate kept soaring and towards the end, Ganguly’s boys fell short by 18 runs.
Openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan provided a decent opening stand for the Chargers, as they added 39 runs in just 4 overs before Dhawan (16) was run-out. White who came to bat at number three looked confident right from the start and he didn’t hesitate attempting big shots early in the innings. White perished in 18th over but it was too late for Pune as he had done enough damage by scoring 78 runs from just 46 balls.
Pune batsmen on the other hand displayed poor stroke play early in the innings. Ryder got out to a nothing delivery as he casually chipped Ankit Sharma towards short cover and was caught by DJ Harris. Ganguly played some good strokes but never looked extremely confident on the crease before being dismissed for 23.
Five of the Pune batsmen were out in 20’s. All of them were too defensive and perished while attempting big strokes. Steven Smith once again tried to rescue his team as he played a 13-ball 26 cameo, but the youngster could not meet up with the required run rate.
The highlight of the match was the magnificent innings of Cameron White. White who has been going through a rough patch of late, played some magnificent strokes all across the ground that finally brought something to cherish for his team.
