DURBAN, April 27: An innings of rollicking brilliance from Adam Gilchrist and controlled aggression from Herschelle Gibbs carried Deccan Chargers to a comprehensive six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the Kingsmead, enabling the Hyderabad team to consolidate their position at the top of the league table.

Chasing a stiff target of 166, the Chargers got off to their brightest start in the tournament.

Gilchrist started the assault with two well timed pulls while Gibbs took the attack by the scruff with a delightful straight drive and an old fashioned pull that landed behind the players’ dug out.

The dynamic duo continued with their murderous assault. The 50 came up in 3.3 overs, Dhoni left clueless amidst the rampage.

The fall of Gilchrist to part time spinner Suresh Raina put Chennai back in the game. Another failure from V.V.S. Laxman did not help things either, but Gibbs continued to hold the innings together.

The plan was simple. It was not to attack the ball when pace was taken off it.

The medium pacers played into the hands with some ordinary bowling. Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma made neat contributions that helped close in on the target.

Newcomer Azhar Bilakhia, not overawed by the situation, rotated the strike while Gibbs took care of the big hits.

The last over required eight runs and Gibbs deposited the first delivery over the mid-wicket fence to ensure there was no need to chew one’s nails.

A flat deck that looked to last the entire course prompted Gilchrist to insert Chennai. Fidel Edwards forced Partiv Patel to fend at a rising delivery and Gilchrist accepted a catch down the leg side.

Chargers had got off to the perfect start and if Bilakhia had reacted sharply to Suresh Raina’s fierce square cut, they would had their joy doubled.

Mathew Hayden, owner of the purple cap and in fine form pulverised the attack and Raina also rubbed it in with a few big hits.

The second over from R.P. Singh went for 16. A few free hits did not prove costly as Chargers looked to pull things back. A poor over by Smith ensured Chennai reached their 50 in 4.4 overs.

With the medium pacers bleeding too many runs, Gilchrist was forced to bring his spinners on quicker than he would have wanted. Venugopal Rao who had done a wonderful job in the previous game bowled a tight first over.

Rohit Sharma also pressed into service operated with a strong off-side field. Bowling to a plan Rohit lured Raina into a drive and snapped a fine return catch.

At the end of 10 overs Chennai had galloped to a strong 88/2 but some spirited fielding and unrelenting spin from Pragyan Ojha allowed only 25 runs of the next five overs. M.S. Dhoni, not at his usual free flowing self chipped an attempted square drive straight drive to Shoaib Ahmed positioned at deep point. Mathew Hayden hit a full toss to Rohit as Ojha joined R.P. Singh as the top wicket taker of the tournament.

The slog overs saw Chennai claw their way back through the long handle of Jacob Oram. Two well timed sixes saw the score climb past the 150-mark. S. Badrinath after striking a boundary of the first ball he faced had the going tough against the pace of Edwards.

R.P. Singh then accounted for Badri to reclaim exclusive ownership of the purple cap. Chargers made two changes to their side that beat Mumbai Indians, Bilakhia coming in for Ravi Teja and Shoaib Ahmed replacing Harmeet Singh.