Chargers claw up to sixth place (IPL Matc 26: Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers)

Some fantastic catching and Adam Gilchrist's trend-setting leadership helped Hyderabad trump Chennai by seven wickets on Tuesday night.

Call it a blow, or even a blessing in disguise, Deccan Chargers captain VVS Laxman ruled himself out at the last minute, putting Gilchrist at the wheel here at the Chidambaram Stadium.

Gilchrist called the toss right, put Super Kings in, held them down to an underpar 144, and scaled down much of the target himself with a quick 54.

It meant that Hyderabad have now climbed up to sixth place after being eighth for much of the IPL, while Chennai remained at fourth spot with their third successive loss.

Hyderabad's win was made possible by three terrific catches and some poor shots by Chennai's batsmen in the first ten overs of play.

Parthiv Patel fell in the first over, mistiming a hook to deep square leg. RP Singh ran down all the way from long leg and barely got to the ball to finish a fine catch.

Anirudha Srikkanth, son of former India opener Krish Srikkanth, fell to the short ball and miscued it to point.

Stephen Fleming then played a fearsome drive but Rohit Sharma at cover timed his jump to perfection, holding on to the catch.

Next, S Badrinath mistimed his cut shot off Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs at point flung himself to his left to finish a spectacular air-borne catch. At 4-43 in the seventh over, Hyderabad had Chennai on a leash.

The introduction of left armer Pragyan Ojha tied Chennai down further. The spinner varied his pace and length, finishing with cheap figures of 4-0-22-1, the wicket being the valuable one of MS Dhoni.

Suresh Raina was his fluent self in his 32 (21 balls, 5x4), and but for some happy hour slogging from Albie Morkel and Manpreet Gony, Chennai would have struggled to set Hyderabad a target of even six runs an over. Morkel even slogged Ojha for a six that went 124 metres over midwicket.

Gilchrist led the chase from the front. His 54 (36 balls, 7x4, 2x6) ensured there were no starting problems. His innings was ended by a sharp catch at point by S Badrinath, who barely cupped his hands around a screaming square cut hit straight to him. Styris and Rohit kept the supply of runs from drying up. But with the finish getting a bit tight, Afridi came out and hit Joginder Sharma for 6, 4, 6 and 4 off consecutive balls to finish off the win.