Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2012, Hyderabad,Cricinfo

Delhi Daredevils 193 for 1 (Warner 109*, Ojha 64*) beat Deccan Chargers 187 for 4 (Dhawan 84, White 65) by nine wickets 

Even a total as formidable as 187 wasn't enough for Deccan Chargers' inexperienced bowling attack to pull off a win against Delhi Daredevils. David Warner filled the vacuum left by Kevin Pietersen with a blistering century - his second in the IPL - in only his second game of the season. With help from Naman Ojha, Daredevils butchered their way back to No.1, overhauling the target with 20 balls to spare.

Chargers fielded a bowling unit without foreign players, the most experienced of the lot being Amit Mishra. It was a recipe for a mauling. There was no respite even at the other end, as the promising Ojha capitalised on his promotion, hitting five sixes in his 64. Warner and Ojha overshadowed a similar performance from another Indo-Australian left-right duo earlier in the evening - Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White.

Daredevils' response was so swift and intimidating that Virender Sehwag's early departure was a distant memory. Sehwag tried to make a mockery of the decision to open the bowling with Dhawan by lofting the first ball to long-off. A similar attempt off the second ball resulted in a top edge that swirled to point, where White held a well-judged catch running backwards.

It was the only memorable bit of fielding from Chargers. The familiar misfields were characteristic of another flat performance, completely out of sync with the batting. Warner hit two forceful boundaries to take 16 off the opening over and set the tone for the rest of the chase.

Warner exposed the lack of depth and experience in the bowling, one that should serve as a lesson for the franchise before the next trading window. TP Sudhindra, back after warming the bench for over a month, gave away 13 in his first over. Ashish Reddy, one of the impressive newcomers this season for Chargers, had his confidence dented with a 20-run opening over. Two consecutive short balls were pounded by Warner over cover and deep square-leg. When Reddy pitched it full, he was hit through the off side.

Manpreet Gony was the only bowler with respectable figures. Mishra, the most experienced, went for 44 off four. Twenty-six of those runs were scored by Ojha, who used his feet to smash two sixes down the ground.

Warner, who looked below his best on the more sluggish pitches in the West Indies, was at home here with the ball coming onto the bat. He played his trademark pulls, one of which brought up his century. His stand of 189 with Ojha was the second-best in the IPL, behind Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh's 206 for Kings XI Punjab in 2011.

The 126 between Dhawan and White wasn't lacking in quality either. The pair shrugged off a relatively slow first half with power hitting in the last nine overs. The partnership featured audacious shots like the Dilscoop and the paddle sweep, interspersed with powerful straight hits and muscled sixes over deep midwicket.

Dhawan was particularly strong over the on side, hitting consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, and raced to his fifty with consecutive straight hits off Irfan Pathan.

When the slower bowlers tossed it up, Dhawan hammered over the on side; when Morne Morkel aimed at the base of the stumps, he strolled across his stumps and paddled over the helpless short fine leg fielder. A century was there for the taking against a stunned bowling attack, but a brilliant fielding effort from Nadeem, a direct hit from behind square leg, caught Dhawan a mile out of his crease.

White, who had earlier brought up the century stand with a six over deep midwicket off Nadeem, holed out to a top edge in the final over. Chargers, in the last nine overs, plundered 117 runs. Their bowlers, however, failed to defend that effort.

Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2012, Hyderabad,Cricinfo

Kings XI Punjab 170 for 5 (Mandeep 75) beat Deccan Chargers 145 for 8 (Hussey 2-2, Praveen 2-15, Awana 2-27) by 25 runs

Deccan Chargers dropped only one sitter today. Their fielding did not come apart as it has earlier this season. Mandeep Singh did cart their bowling around in a dominating innings. But then, in the middle of their chase, they lost Cameron White and Daniel Harris in the space of four balls. To David Hussey. Four deliveries later, they lost Kumar Sangakkara. Game over.

The result, and Rajasthan Royals' win over Pune Warriors earlier today, opened up a five-way race for two playoff spots, with Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils appearing set to take the first two spots.

Chargers had kept pace with the asking-rate for eight overs. Parvinder Awana and Azhar Mahmood then got in a tight over each. With the spinners having been taken for runs, and the fast bowlers pulling things back, few would have expected Hussey to come on with his part-time quick offbreaks in the 11th over. He did, and Harris, on 30, drove his first delivery off a thick edge straight to point. As if one pleasant surprise wasn't enough, a bigger gift was in store for Kings XI. Hussey gave rare flight to his fourth ball, White went after it, and Shaun Marsh accepted the steepler at deep midwicket.

Double whammy turned into triple tragedy for Chargers when Sangakkara edged a peach of an away-moving Praveen Kumar delivery for the wicketkeeper Nitin Saini to take a reflex one-handed catch wide to his left. A competitive 70 for 2 had sunk to 74 for 5, and Chargers had as much hope left of winning the game as they have of making the playoffs.

Mandeep, Kings XI's highest run-getter this season, had earlier continued his good form, adding powerful strokes to his solidity to take his side well over the 150-160 mark which Sangakkara said was a par score. Mandeep, with a career Twenty20 strike-rate of barely 120, batted a couple of gears higher today, his 75 coming off 48 deliveries. David Miller provided the late boost, hammering an unbeaten 28 off 18.

Mandeep, who had been consistent this season without dominating, never looked back after taking Veer Pratap Singh for 18 in the second over. He pulled, cut and lofted over extra cover without any desperation. Though he lacked enough support, Mandeep never allowed the innings to flag.

Ashish Reddy could have had Mandeep, on 30 then, off the first ball he bowled, but could not get to a tough chance which just eluded his outstretched left hand. Mandeep deposited the last ball of that Reddy over, the seventh, over long-on.

Veer Pratap, who was to go for 45 in four overs, managed to get Hussey mishitting to long-off in the 12th over. Mandeep responded by pulling Amit Mishra for consecutive fours in the next over.

Reddy finally bowled Mandeep in the 16th over as the batsman missed a slog. He then ran-out the dangerous Azhar Mahmood for 14 with sharp fielding at point, but became too predictable with his slower deliveries, allowing Miller to take 13 off the final over.

Almost predictably, Chargers' woeful catching made another appearance, though late, when White put down Miller at long-off last ball of the 19th over. But for once, Chargers had neither their fielding nor their catching to blame for their 16th loss in 17 games at their home ground in Hyderabad.

Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers, IPL 2012, Jaipur,Cricinfo

Rajasthan Royals 197 for 5 (Hodge 48*, Mishra 3-32) beat Deccan Chargers 196 for 2 (Duminy 58*, Dhawan 52) by five wickets 

Not even eight days rest, their best efforts with the bat and Amit Mishra's three wickets were enough to earn Deccan Chargers a first win in IPL 2012. After Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan put on the highest first-wicket partnership of the season, and JP Duminy and Daniel Christian blasted 77 off the last five overs, Chargers piled on a hefty score for Rajasthan Royals to chase, but they were unable to defend it on a flat pitch with small boundaries.

Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane did the groundwork and Brad Hodge finished off fiercely. Almost everything Chargers did, Royals did better. Although Dravid and Rahane shared a stand of only 62, compared to Sangakkara and Dhawan's 94 , the Royals pair scored at a faster rate. They went at 10.62 runs to the over compared to Sangakkara and Dhawan's 8.81. Chargers had amassed 119 for 2 after 15 overs, Royals had the same score after 13. Duminy's 58 came at a strike rate of 223.07, Brad Hodge's 48 came at a strike rate of 228.57, and that was perhaps the difference between the two sides.

With a tall task ahead of them, Royals approached it aggressively. Rahul Dravid tore into an out-of-sorts Dale Steyn in the second over, using the pace to club him for three fours. With the in-form Rahane on the other end, Daniel Christian and birthday-boy Anand Rajan also took a pasting and Royals raced to the fastest fifty in this season's tournament, off 4.5 overs.

Dravid seemed set for a much longer stay at the crease but was foxed by a Christian slower ball that was aimed at his legs. He did not get inside the line and the ball cannoned into the pads and onto the stumps. The wicket brought a short-lived calm to the crease as Rahane and Ashok Menaria consolidated.

Unlike Chargers, who suffered a lapse in the mid-section of their innings and scored 23 runs between overs 13 and 16, Royals kept their slump to just two overs. The 8th and 9h overs yielded only eight runs in total but Rahane soon had the wheels turning again with a six over long-off after charging down the track to Mishra.

Menaria was not expected to bat at No. 3, given the match situation which needed quick runs, but Royals stuck to their original line-up and he did not let them down. He freed his arms and found the boundary and seemed a worthy partner to Rahane until he pulled straight to short midwicket. Rahane holed out two overs later to cause jitters in the Royals camp. Those nerves would have grown when Shah was dropped by Steyn at long-on when he was on 10 and then caught two balls later at deep midwicket.

Hodge did not waste time taking over and ensured the advantage was back with Royals when he clubbed Steyn for four consecutive fours. Hodge cut the short ball, turned the full toss to square leg, lofted another short one over third man and carved a half-volley through the covers to ensure Steyn had the most expensive return of the Chargers' bowlers.

With the anxiety shifting to Chargers, they dropped another catch, putting Johan Botha down and found themselves with only 11 to defend off the last over. Dishant Yagnik, little-known on the international stage, was the unlikely hero. Steyn offered him a touch of width and he found the gap on the off side and followed it up by slapping the ball through the covers to hand Royals victory.

This is the second match of in the tournament that Chargers have lost from a seemingly winnable position. Last Monday, they let Mumbai Indians canter to a five-wicket win after having them under their thumb at 95 for 4, chasing 139, in the 17th over. Chargers' three losses keeps them at the bottom of the points table.