DURBAN, April 25: With the captain leading from the front and every department working effectively, the Deccan Chargers continued their unbeaten run in the IPL-2. The all-round strength of the Chargers upstaged tournament favourites Mumbai Indians in a thrilling encounter at the Kingsmead here on Saturday. With 26 required of the last two overs, Chargers talisman Fidel Edwards bowled an excellent over to give R.P. Singh the luxury of bowling at a target of 22 in the last over. Chargers romped home by 12 runs to remain at the top of the table with six points from three matches.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha with three wickets was instrumental in plotting the comeback. Opener Herschelle Gibbs’ half-century did the star turn with the bat as Chargers posted 168/9.

It was another thoroughly professional performance from the Chargers who are in no mood to do anything wrong. It was not a smooth sail at the same time either. Mumbai had their moments but Chargers handled the bigger moments better.

At the tactical timeout of the Mumbai innings there was a lot to ponder for both captains. Chasing 169 for a win Mumbai were 84/1.

There was hardly anything to choose between the sides. Mumbai had the advantage of having the wickets in hand to plan their chase. Pragyan Ojha and Venugopal Rao had other ideas. Keeping things tight by operating within the stumps the duo did not allow any big hits.

Sachin Tendulkar and Jean Paul Duminy had built a worthy partnership that put them on course. But Sachin’s lazy drive at Ojha saw the Chargers sneak their way back. It was a spirited effort on the field that complimented the bowling. Even with Dwayne Bravo batting with gusto, the asking rate climbed with every passing minute on the batsmen.

Earlier, a cluster of wickets towards the end of the innings undid all the good work done in the first half of the innings for Chargers. The innings got off to the now-usual start of Adam Gilchrist (35, 20 balls) blazing away at the top. A short arm jab off Lasith Malinga over long-on cleared the fence comfortably. The pair of Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs (58, 44 balls) is not the easiest to bowl to. Their range of strikes makes it difficult even for the best in the business as Zaheer Khan and Malinga found out.

Only when Gilchrist choose the wrong delivery to drive did Mumbai enjoy their first success.

At 88/1 at the halfway stage, the Chargers looked well set for a score in the vicinity of 200. The first over after the break saw Smith pounding Sanath Jayasuriya over mid-wicket for a huge six followed by an exquisite drive played inside out for four. Having achieved a run rate of close to ten, Chargers were on track before Smith fell to Jayasuriya and the lower order could not sustain the charge.