Symonds on song for Hyderabad
Andrew Symonds hit a half-century to inspire Hyderabad to a six-run victory over Mohali in the IPL clash at Cuttack.
Symonds hit a fine 53 off 38 deliveries - his second half-century of the tournament - as Hyderabad amassed 170 for seven after being sent in to bat.
Irfan Pathan then kept Mohali in the hunt with a power-packed 60 off 29 deliveries, but his innings only proved a consolation as Mohali were restricted to 164 for eight.
It was the Hyderabad's first win at home in IPL and their first ever win over Mohali.
Adam Gilchrist (33) had begun in explosive fashion, clouting Shanthakumaran Sreesanth for two sixes and two fours in an over that yielded 24 and dominating an opening stand with VVS Laxman that yielded 43 in just three overs.
But Gilchrist's stay was brief and Laxman's innings too ended abruptly, the Indian having to retire hurt after being struck a painful blow on the forearm by a wayward throw from Shalabh Srivastava.
Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs (23) consolidated with a 57-run stand, but that partnership was severed when Yuvraj Singh bowled Gibbs through the gate.
It's all about numbers
Rohit Sharma was then brilliantly run out by Mahela Jayawardene, Anirudh Singh was caught behind for a duck and Symonds' innings ended just past the half-century mark as Hyderabad lost steam.
From a rousing start, Hyderabad had slipped to 142 for five in just under 17 overs and only a timely knock of 26 from Tirumalasetti Suman helped them achieve a defendable total.
In reply, Mohali wilted and the chase all but fizzled out quickly.
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Opener Manvinder Bisla was run out for a duck and Chaminda Vaas again weighed in strongly with the new ball, removing Kumar Sangakkara for a duck and Yuvraj Singh for four.
Vaas conceded only 13 from his first three overs and the spinners too chipped away with a regularity that made Mohali already stiff task all the more harder.
Symonds extracted Jayawardene (14), Pragyan Ojha removed debutant Adrian Barath (seven) and Ravi Bopara's fighting innings of 38 was ended when lofted Rohit straight to Symonds in the deep as Mohali crashed to 68 for six.
Top performer: Andrew Symonds
Irfan then offered a glimmer of hope by racing to a half-century off only 25 deliveries and his powerful hitting left Mohali needing 33 from the last two overs.
RP Singh conceded 14 off the penultimate over, but Irfan succumbed first ball of the final over and Mohali fell agonisingly short.
Playing XI:
Hyderabad: Adam Gilchrist (C) (W), VVS Laxman, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Tirumalsetti Suman, Anirudh Singh, Chaminda Vaas, Jaskaran Singh, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha
Mohali: Kumar Sangakkara (C) (W), Ravi Bopara, Adrian Barath, Manvinder Bisla, Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardena, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Bipul Sharma, Shalabh Srivastava, Sreesanth
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