Johannesburg: Deccan Chargers took a stride towards reserving their semi-final berth as they pipped Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in a last-ball Indian Premier League thriller on Saturday.
Put into bat first, Kolkata scored a competitive 160 for five, built largely around 17-ball 43 by David Hussey and Brad Hodge's sedate 41-ball 48, but Deccan Chargers overwhelmed the target in the last ball.
Adam Gilchrist's 31-ball 43 gave the Deccans good start, but the Hyderabad side suffered some mid-innings slump before Rohit Sharma's 13-ball 32 guided them to the win.
With 14 runs needed from last four balls, Sharma hit a four off Mortaza and then hit another for maximum to wrap up the issue as they reached 166 in 20 overs.
Earlier, Kolkata openers Brenden McCullum and Sourav Ganguly were never at ease as the Deccan's new-ball pair of Australian Ryan Harris and RP Singh extracted sharp bounce from the pitch that was otherwise looking a good batting track.
Harris inflicted first blow to Kolkata side as skipper McCullum (20), who was earlier dropped by Herchelle Gibbs, failed to negotiate a rising delivery as Tirumalsetti Suman ran backward to pouch a well-judged catch.
Brief Score: Deccan Chargers 166 for 4 (Gilchrist 43) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 160 for 5 (Hodge 48, Hussey 43) by six wickets.
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