Dwayne Smith smashed a brisk 47 and Rohit Sharma grabbed three quick wickets as Deccan Chargers thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Monday. Deccan rode on West Indian Smith's 32-ball knock to post 166-7 before restricting Rajasthan to 113 for its sixth win in 10 matches. Rajasthan has so far won five of their 11 games. Delhi leads the eight-team competition with 14 points from nine matches, followed by Chennai (13/10), Deccan (12/10), Rajasthan (11/11), Punjab (10/10), Mumbai (9/10), Bangalore (8/10) and Kolkata (3/10). Defending champion Rajasthan faltered against the pace-spin combination, with opener Swapnil Asnodkar alone offering resistance with a 39-ball 44. Veteran Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas (2-19) did the early damage with two wickets in a lively opening spell to reduce Rajasthan to 19-2. The left-arm paceman trapped South Africa skipper Graeme Smith (one) leg-before and then had Australian Lee Carseldine (eight) stumped by Adam Gilchrist. Off-spinner Sharma ensured an easy win with three wickets for just 12 runs off three tight overs. Deccan earlier plundered 58 runs in the last five overs, thanks to Man of the Match Smith who smashed four sixes in a superb exhibition of hard and clean hitting. Spinners Yusuf Pathan (3-34) and Ravinder Jadeja (2-26) threatened to restrict Deccan to a modest total before Smith propped up the innings with a 37-run stand for the fifth wicket with Vaas (20). Off-spinner Pathan struck with his third delivery when he trapped Gilchrist (10) leg-before and then accounted for Vaas and Smith. Left-arm spinner Jadeja also kept pressure on the batsmen and got a big wicket when he bowled Andrew Symonds, who hit a 19-ball 30. Brief scores: Deccan 166-7 (D. Smith 47, A. Symonds 30, T. Suman 29, C. Vaas 20; Y. Pathan 3-34, R. Jadeja 2-26). Rajasthan 113 in 19.3 overs (S. Asnodkar 44; R. Sharma 3-12, C. Vaas 2-19). Afridi taking inspiration from Kumble, Mushtaq Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is encouraged by the leg-spinning performances in England by Anil Kumble and Mushtaq Ahmed ahead of the World Twenty20 next month. The 29-year-old Afridi recently took 10 wickets in five one-day matches against Australia, sharply turning his leg-spinners to become the highest wicket-taker from either side in a series Pakistan lost 3-2. India's Kumble and Pakistan's Mushtaq had successful stints in English county cricket before quitting the international game. “Both of them have taken lots of wickets in England and I'll be looking to take my inspiration from them,” Afridi said in an ICC newsletter released Monday. Pakistan is in Group B of the World Twenty20 with host England and the Netherlands. The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super Eight stage. “I don't think we've got an easy group,” Afridi said. “If you remember back in the one-day format World Cup, we lost to Ireland ... especially in Twenty20, you can't say anything about any side because it's anyone's game.” – AgenciesToday's Matches 1330 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs. Kolkata Knight Riders 1730 Kings XI Punjab vs. Mumbai IndiansIndian Premier League Table (played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run-rate) Delhi 9 7 2 0 14 +0.329 Chennai 10 6 3 1 13 +1.222 Deccan 10 6 4 0 12 +0.382 Rajasthan 11 5 5 1 11 -0.373 Punjab 10 5 5 0 10 -0.447 Mumbai 10 4 5 1 9 +0.435 Bangalore 10 4 6 0 8 -0.437 Kolkata 10 1 8 1 3
