IPL II Champions and host Deccan Chargers lost to Somerset Sabres after Alfonso Thomas (30) and James Hildreth (25) pulled off a sensational last-ball one-wicket win in a Group A match of the Champions League on Saturday.

Chasing 154 to win, Somerset was struggling at 99/7 at one stage but Thomas and Hildreth snatched victory by raising a superb 50-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Somerset required five runs from the last over, bowled by Scott Styris, and what followed was a heart-stopping drama. Styris bowled Hildreth in the first ball to break the partnership and dismissed Max Waller in the third ball.

Thomas dispatched a full toss for a four to level the scores, played a dot ball and smashed another boundary, an inside out shot, to seal a thrilling win for his team.

Thomas’ unbeaten knock came off just 17-balls and contained four boundaries and a six.

Earlier, VVS Laxman hit a brilliant 46 and Venugopal Rao sizzled with a fiery 22 to guide the hosts to a competitive 153/9. RP Singh (3/17) polished off the Somerset top order in a fiery opening spell to give the hosts the kind of start they needed to defend their modest total.

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India have dropped down one place to fourth in the ICC Test Championships table after the annual update released on Tuesday, which reflects the performance of only the last three years with the older results being discarded.

Sri Lanka, riding on their Test series win over Pakistan, leveled India (119) on points but replaced Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team at number three after re-calculation upto the nearest decimal 0.01 ratings points difference.

Australia (124) clung on to the top above second-placed South Africa (122) as just five ratings points separate top four teams.

But Ricky Ponting’s men must win both the remaining Ashes Tests to stay there. Otherwise, it will be Graeme Smith’s turn to lead the number-one Test team in the world.

Australia have led the Test rankings ever since the current method was introduced in May 2003.

The progress of Kumar Sangakkara’s team is due to a consistently high performance during the period of the rankings. In that time, the team has played 10 series, winning six, drawing three and losing just one (in Australia).

No matter how the Ashes finishes, England (99) will remain in fifth position but if the home side wins the series, Australia will drop to fourth position in the Test Championship table.

If the series ends in a 1-1 draw, South Africa will rise to the top. Australia, Sri Lanka and India will all have the same rating, but with Australia still clinging on to second place by a decimal point.

In the batting list, Gautam Gambhir remained on second spot with 847 points behind Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara (862).

Sachin Tendulkar (15th), VVS Laxman (17th) and Virender Sehwag (19th) are the other Indian batsmen in the top 20.

Among bowlers, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan are in top 10 at sixth and ninth respectively while Ishant Sharma is in 19th in the list headed by South African Dale Steyn.

The annual update is carried out to ensure the ICC Test Championship table continues to reflect recent form with older results being discarded.

The table reflects all Test series that were completed since August three years ago. All series played until the start of next August will be added to this table, so by then the ratings will be based on four years of results, with series completed within the last two years carrying greater weight.

Next August the first year of results will be dropped and this pattern is repeated each August, with the oldest of the four years of results removed to be gradually replaced with results of series completed over the following 12 months.

Thus, once a year, the rankings change overnight without any new series being completed.

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Delhi Daredevils will be looking to stop Deccan Chargers’ four-match winning streak and snatch the top spot when they face each other in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Centurion Park here on Thursday.

After suffering their first IPL defeat against Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils will be looking to bounce back against leading Deccan Chargers.

Delhi Daredevils, after Tuesday’s loss, are second in the league behind Deccan Chargers.

When both teams face each other at the Centurion Park, Deccan Chargers will be looking to retain their top spot while Daredevils will be trying to snatch the leader’s crown.

Daredevils are one of the most balanced team in the IPL and it was only against the Rajasthan Royals that they faltered suffering their only loss in the league so far.

The loss is likely to act as a catalyst for Daredevils to bounce back. Their batting has been the major strength and it will depend on skipper Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to get a good start.

In the middle-order, AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan have been in fine form and will be looking to continue their stroke-play against the Deccan Chargers bowling attack.

Delhi Daredevils also have a good bowling attack and fast bowler Ashish Nehra and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori have been in good from.

But against the formidable Deccan Chargers, Daredevils bowlers can’t relax.

Deccan Chargers’ opening batsmen skipper Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs have torn apart all the bowling attacks in the IPL. Rohit Sharma, VVS Laxman and Dwayne Smith have given a depth to their batting while the bowlers have been in terrific form.

Fidel Edwards and R P Singh have made Deccan Chargers bowling the most potent attack in the IPL. Adding to their strength is left-arm spinners Pragyan Ojha who has been daring enough to toss the ball and the batmen have fallen to his trap.

With two top teams facing each other, Centurion Park is set for an exciting clash.

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After the second-match defeat, Royal Challengers would focus to strive up the ladder with points, while Deccan Chargers would strive to keep their redemption journey on when the two teams lock horns in their Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.

The Bangalore team started their journey in the second edition of the Twenty20 tournament in style by drubbing the defending champion Rajasthan Royals by 75 runs, but could not show that consistency in their second encounter which they lost to Chennai Super Kings by 92 runs on Monday.

Skipper Kevin Pietersen will certainly expect another gutsy knock from Rahul Dravid, whose 48-ball 66 laid the cornerstone of their win in the first match, while there might be some experiments with the opening slot depending on the conditions on the match day.

But a good foundation by the opening pair is going to be crucial to post a good score or chase down a stiff target, especially under artificial lightings, set before them.

Pietersen himself will be there adding to the strength of the middle order batting, while he will also expect the star Protea all rounder Jaques Kallis to encash on home advantage.

Their bowling department did well in the first match skittling out Shane Warne-led team for a paltry 58, thanks to Anil Kumble’s 5-5, but appeared a bit sluggish against the Chennai Super Kings in Monday’s encounter.

The bowling line up, consisting top South African paceman Dale Steyn and all-rounder Kallis, have to bring about the consistency if the Bangalore team, which finished seventh in inaugural edition, to put the records straight this time.

On the other hand, Deccan Chargers who languished at the bottom of the tally last year, started their campaign on a positive note with a comprehensive eight-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Hyderabad-based side will heavily rely upon their strong batting line up, with skipper Adam Gilchrist joining hands with in-form South African Herschelle Gibbs to form the opening pair.

V V S Laxman might have lost the captaincy after last year’s dismal show but the team will certainly expect some timely knocks from the stylish Hyderabadi batsman with New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris coming lower in the batting order.

Deccan’s new-ball pair of R P Singh, who played the wrecker-in-chief against Shah Rukh Khan-owned side scalping four wickets for just 22 runs, and West Indian Fidel Edwards have fine penetration ability which is enough to make the opponents worried.

After their creditable show in last match, Gilchrist will also not hesitate to depend on the bowling prowess of Pragyan Ojha and Styris to produce some timely break-through.

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Gilchrist might have dropped the curtains of his international career more than a year back, but this Deccan Chargers skipper said he still feels like a teenager who can’t wait for the cricket season to start.

The former Australian wicket-keeper batsman, who bid adieu to his international career in January last year, said he didn’t play much competitive cricket after the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League and was nervous ahead of their opening encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders which they comprehensively won by eight wickets last night.

“When I was a 14-year-old we had one season off and used to wait for another season to play cricket,” he said.

Apart from lauding his team-mates for the victory, Gilchrist also showered praise on coach and fellow Australian Darren Lehman, saying the left-hander had played a key role in reviving the fortunes of the Hyderabad outfit who finished at the bottom of the IPL table last year.

The 37-year-old dashing Aussie feels his predecessor in Deccan Chargers team, VVS Laxman will have a major role to play in difficult South Africa turfs.

“He is an experienced campaigner. We all know about his achievements in Test cricket. The pitches here will suit Laxman’s style of play. He likes the ball coming onto the bat and loves playing those elegant shots while taking his own time,” Gilchrist said.

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A fine four wicket haul by pacer RP Singh set up Deccan Chargers to a comprehensive eight wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League campaign opener in Cape Town on Sunday.

RP Singh led a disciplined bowling attack of Deccan Chargers with figures of 4/22 to bundle out Kolkata Knight Riders for a miserable 101 in 19.4 overs after Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum elected to bat.

Rohit Sharma and South African Herschelle Gibbs then hit sparkling unbeaten 43 and 36 respectively to hit off 104 for two in just 13.1 overs.

Captain Adam Gilchrist and VVS Laxman contributed 13 and 10 respectively as last edition’s bottom-placed team started their campaign in this season on a resounding note.

The Knight Riders, who were entangled in a captaincy controversy for weeks before the Twenty20 tournament, were completely outplayed by their Hyderabad-based rivals in all departments of the game.

Chasing a modest 102 at 5.1 runs per over, Deccan Chargers lost Gilchrist and VVS Laxman by the fifth over but Gibbs and Rohit ensured that they start the IPL second season on a winning note by sharing an unbroken 69-run stand for the third wicket.

Gibbs’ 26-ball 43 included five fours and a six. He also hit the winning runs by smashing a four off Moises Henriques to win the match in style.

Rohit, one of the top Chargers batsmen last year, was also fluent in his 32-ball innings of 36 which was studded with three fours and two sixes.

Rudra was well supported by Scott Styris (2/32) and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (2/14) who chipped in with two wickets each. Opening bowler Fidel Edwards bowled with a lot of pace and accuracy and conceded just six runs from his allotted four overs though without success.

Australian Brad Hodge top-scored with 31 for Knight Riders while three other batsmen – Chris Gayle (10), Aakash Chopra (11) and Murali Kartik (not out 10) — could reach double figures.

Electing to bat, KKR had a disastrous start with their openers captain Brendon McCullum and Gayle returning to the hut by the fourth over with just 12 runs on the board, both victims of RP Singh. From there on they never recovered.

McCullum had a faint touch of RP Singh’s first ball of the innings by his glove and was caught by his opposite number Adam Gilchrist behind the wicket for just one.

One down Sourav Ganguly was expected to let the willow speak following all that captaincy controversy but the former India skipper’s vigil at the crease lasted just 12 balls and yielded just one run before perishing on 16-3.

Deccan bowlers tied down the strong KKR batting line-up to just 31 runs at the halfway mark for three wickets.

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Their owner may have been the most visible presence in the pre-tournament build-up, but the Kolkata Knight Riders will seek to show they are capable of playing good cricket when they open their Indian Premier League campaign against the Deccan Chargers at Newlands on Sunday.

Knight Riders owner, bollywood film star Shah Rukh Khan, admitted that his team didn’t perform well as he hoped in finishing sixth out of eight last year.

West Indian captain Chris Gayle will only be available for the early matches but most of the other key players, including New Zealander Brendon McCullum, will be able to play in all the games.

McCullum hit a spectacular 158 in the opening match against Bangalore last year and has been appointed captain for the 2009 season.

Other experienced players in the team include former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, Australia’s Brad Hodge and Sri Lanka’s mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, together with Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma and left-arm spinner Murali Karthik.

If the Knight Riders were under-achievers last year, the Deccan Chargers did even worse, winning only two out of 14 games and finishing bottom of the table.

The Chargers signed a galaxy of big name, quick-scoring batsmen whose performances were erratic, while the team paid for a shortage of experienced bowlers.

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Sachin Tendulkar has praised the leadership skills of MS Dhoni, who has overseen a successful six months for India after taking over as captain in all three formats.

“I’m extremely happy and delighted at the way he (Dhoni) has conducted himself,” Tendulkar said. “He is a balanced guy, is always on his toes all the time. Before he was made the captain, standing in the slips I interacted with him, and [he] picked [up a] lot of things which clearly indicated that he has a sharp brain, his approach was pretty clear and not complicated.”

India are fresh from their first Test series win in New Zealand in 41 years, and have also defeated Australia and England at home in the past eight months. India has an impressive record under Dhoni’s leadership, winning five out of seven Tests and losing none. Dhoni also led India to their longest winning-streak in one-dayers during comprehensive series wins over England and Sri Lanka, and most notably, led them to victory in the World Twenty20 in 2007. He’s captained his team in 51 ODIs, winning 31 of them.

Dhoni’s record with the bat as captain is significantly better than his overall stats. In the seven Tests he’s led India; he averages 60 as compared to his overall average of 37.73. His figures have been boosted by seven half-centuries, four of which came against Australia at home. He scored fifties in each innings against New Zealand in the rain-affected final Test in Wellington, where India fell just two wickets shy of wrapping up the series 2-0. The trend is similar in ODIs as well. He was India’s second-highest run-getter in 2008 and averages 57.81 in 51 matches as captain, as opposed to 49.26 overall.

Another experienced player who was impressed with Dhoni’s captaincy was VVS Laxman. “Dhoni is one of the best captains I have played under,” he said. “He is so calm and composed. He exudes a lot of confidence. It’s a great feeling to play under him.”

One of Dhoni’s biggest accomplishments as a leader has been forging a strong team spirit, and former captain Tendulkar said he relished playing the role of a senior member. “To players like Harbhajan Singh or Yuvraj Singh, I’m like their elder brother. I share information not just with them but also with other members of the side. It’s a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room and it’s not just one-way traffic,” he said. “We learn from each other and if someone has some issues, there is the coach. Generally it’s a great atmosphere and I enjoy being part of this side.”

When asked about his decision to not be part of the national Twenty20 side, Tendulkar said he did not want to upset a winning combination. India had won the inaugural World Twenty in South Africa two years ago, but Tendulkar had not been part of that team because of fitness problems. “It’s a team sport so, even if there is one weak link, it affects the whole team. I didn’t want it to happen. The team went to South Africa and did well. They settled quite nicely. I don’t want to disturb the combination now when they are going terrific.”

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