Veterans' day out at IPL

Durban:

Ageing pros turned the clock back as Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians recorded impressive wins in the Indian Premier League cricket on Monday.

Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs clobbered the Chennai Super Kings attack to hand tournament leaders the Deccan Chargers a six-wicket victory, their fourth success in a row.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya then produced vintage strokeplay to help the Mumbai Indians dump the Kolkata Knight Riders by 92 runs in Port Elizabeth.

The duo hammered 127 for the first wicket from just 12.2 overs as Mumbai scored 187-6 in 20 overs after electing to take first strike and then bowled out the Knight Riders for 95 in 15.2 overs.

The massive win took Mumbai's tally to five points from four matches, putting them in third place behind the Deccan Chargers (eight points) and the Delhi Daredevils (six).

The Knight Riders were left tottering on three points from five games.

The Deccan Chargers, who finished at the bottom of the table in last year's inaugural tournament, were the surprise early leaders in the eight-team competition.

Chennai, finalists last year, now have just one win from five matches with three defeats and one rained-off game.

Tendulkar, the world's leading Test and one-day batsman who has voluntarily opted out of India's Twenty20 squad, smashed a brilliant 68 off 45 balls against the Knight Riders.

The prolific 36-year-old hit six boundaries and four sixes, one of them against Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis that landed outside the St George's Park stadium.

Jayasuriya, who turns 40 in June, hammered 52 off 32 balls with two fours and four sixes in a breathtaking display of attacking batting.

Kolkata's chase faltered early when skipper Brendon McCullum was dismissed by Lasith Malinga in the second over and West Indian captain Chris Gayle fell to team-mate Dwayne Bravo in the third.

Brad Hodge (24) and Sourav Ganguly (34) were the chief contributors to Kolkata's meagre total as Malinga and Abhishek Nayar scalped three wickets each.

In the other match, Gilchrist and Gibbs hammered 67 off 34 balls for the first wicket as the Deccan Chargers surpassed Chennai's competitive 165-6 with three balls to spare at the Kingsmead in Durban.

The 37-year-old Gilchrist, leading the Chargers after retiring from international cricket last year, blazed 44 off 19 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.

Gibbs remained unbeaten on 69 with six fours and two sixes to continue his side's impressive run this year.

Chennai's innings had revolved around two whirlwind knocks from left-handed veterans Matthew Hayden of Australia and Jacob Oram of New Zealand.

Hayden, who quit official cricket in January, hit 49 off 35 balls to remain the tournament's leading scorer with 215 runs in five innings.

Oram, who replaced England's injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, smashed an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.