Hyderabad, Oct 11 (Inditop.com) Alfonso Thomas played a match-winning knock as Somerset pulled off a stunning one-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in a last-ball finish in a Group A Champions League Twenty20 game here Saturday.
Man of the Match Thomas scored an unbeaten 30 off 17 balls and shared a crucial 50-run stand with James Hildreth (25) as Somerset made 157 for nine in 20 overs while chasing a target of 154 in the exciting encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal.
Put into bat, Deccan Chargers made 153 for nine in 20 overs after V.V.S. Laxman scored an uncharacteristic knock of 46 and Venugopal Rao smashed 22 off 12 balls.
While chasing, Somerset never got a decent partnership. At 99 for seven in the 14th over, it looked all over for the English county team but Thomas and Hildreth played sensibly to keep them in hunt.
With three wickets in hand, Somerset needed five runs off the last over to bag full points. Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist fell back on veteran Scot Styris and the New Zealander struck with the first ball dismissing Hildreth leg before the wicket. Max Waller departed two balls later to as the match tilted to the home team’s favour.
But in the last two balls, Thomas hit two consecutive fours as Deccan Chargers lost their eighth consecutive match at the venue.
Earlier in the day, Laxman scored a breezy innings and gave a good start to Chargers. Rohit Sharma (24) and Venugopal then played some crucial knocks.
