Two back-to-back away wins (DC pulled the plug on Mumbai Indians earlier) allows the captain the satisfaction of knowing that his players have collectively begun to take responsibility for performances justifying the talent in the squad. Before leaving to join the Lankan squad in England, Sangakkara left his mark on the game, walking after his attempted cut off Rahul Sharma resulted in a snick behind. Uthappa appealed, the umpire deliberated and the captain walked back as the bowler saluted.
Chasing 137 on a slow turner, the visitor negotiated the first six overs with cautious batting. Shikhar Dhawan was pushed up to his regular opener slot, Sunny Sohal punished bowlers with audacious hitting against pace.
Deccan raced to 57 for no loss in six overs, inclusive of 10 from one over of Rahul Sharma's leg-spin. Yuvraj stepped up to effect a turnaround, slanted one wide on seeing Dhawan stepping out for Uthappa to whip off the bails in style.
Warriors sensed a comeback when Sharma's shout for leg-before was upheld after the ball sneaked through to strike Sohal on the backfoot.
Sangakkara, leading Chargers for the last time before joining Sri Lanka in England, was content with placements and taps into vacant areas for sharp singles. Duminy escaped a run-out at the non-striker end. Shrill whistles from Pune supporters mocked at the visitor's tactics. Chargers reached 78-2 in 10 overs without the fireworks expected by T20 fans eager for a dose of thrills and spills.
Earlier, brute force by Mitchell Marsh in the death overs helped Pune Warriors reach a respectable total after the top order failed to get going. The Aussie stepped out against the slow bowlers for huge straight sixes. He top-scored with 37 off 28 balls, an exception in a side where strokeplayers came and went.
Yuvraj stuck around for 17 balls then left without the blast from his blade. The damage was done by slow bowlers.
Medium-pacer Dan Christian (two for 13) underlined his utility value with Ganguly's scalp. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (two for 35) set off a chain reaction when opener Pandey chopped a ball onto his stumps. Amit Mishra's double blow in his first over almost knocked over the home team, disrupting plans the way he had done to Mumbai Indians two days ago.
Mishra, confident of troubling batsmen with his bag of tricks, claimed two critical wickets in his first over (1-1-0-2). Uthappa tapped a ball pitched on the leg-stump back to the bowler. The leg-spinner bounced in joy as teammates joined in celebration.
The next ball to Mithun Manhas was a googly, Mishra raised his arms in glee as the batsman fell for the bait, shaping for a late cut through slips and getting an inside edge onto the stumps
Duminy claimed a wicket too, reducing Warriors to 92 for seven by the 15th over before Marsh played a cameo.
Pune Warriors: J. Ryder c Ravi Teja b Steyn 18 ( 14b, 1x4, 1x6), M. Pandey b Ojha 23 ( 20b, 3x4, 1x6), S. Ganguly c Ojha b Christian 0 ( 5b), R. Uthappa c & b Mishra 4 ( 5b, 1x4), Yuvraj c Sangakkara b Christian 23 ( 17b, 3x4, 1x6), M. Manhas b Mishra 0 ( 1b), C. Ferguson c & b Duminy 11 ( 13b, 1x4), M. Marsh b Ojha 37 ( 28b, 1x4, 3x6), W. Parnell (run out) 16 ( 16b, 1x6), B. Kumar (not out) 1 ( 1b); Extras (lb-1, w-2): 3; Total: (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 136.
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-35, 3-45, 4-45, 5-45, 6-73, 7-92, 8-127, 9-136.
Deccan Charges bowling: Duminy 2-0-19-1, Steyn 4-0-23-1, Ishant 3-0-19-0, Christian 3-0-13-2, Ojha 4-0-35-2, Mishra 4-1-26-2.
Deccan Chargers: S. Sohal lbw b Rahul Sharma 34 ( 28b, 2x4 2x6), S. Dhawan st. Uthappa b Yuvraj 28 ( 25b, 4x4), , K. Sangakkara c Uthappa b Rahul Sharma 25 ( 21b, 2x4, 1x6), J.P. Duminy b Parnell 23 ( 26b, 1x6), D. Christian (not out) 14 ( 12b, 1x4), B. Chipli (not out) 5 ( 4b, 1x4); Extras (w-9): 9; Total (for four wkts. in 19.2 overs): 138.
Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-73, 3-108, 4-126.
Pune Warriors bowling: B. Kumar 2-0-10-0, Parnell 3.2-0-27-1, Rahul Sharma 4-0-25-2, M. Marsh 3-0-30-0, Yuvraj 4-0-27-1, Manhas 3-0-19-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Amit Mishra .
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