hyderabad, may 1: Among the many investments that the owners of Deccan Chargers have made in the Indian Premier League, the $750,000 spent on Rohit Sharma are fast turning out to be the wisest. The 20-year-old has not only provided his team the fireworks, but has done it in the style of a player who just exudes class.

Deccan lost their third successive match at home, this time to Kings XI Punjab, by seven wickets. In fact, had it not been for Sharma, the result, it now appears, would’ve been far harsher for the hosts.

To win the toss and elect to field first many not be the brightest idea in a Twenty20 match, especially given the placid nature of the track that’s commonly made available to favour batsmen. Kings XI captain Yuvraj Singh, nevertheless, did spot a trick or two that made him invite Deccan to bat first.

Top order short

The tall top-order that Deccan can boast of hasn’t collectively fired as yet. Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi failed to get going, either falling to stray shots or Piyush Chawla’s very basic leg-spin. The hardest hitting batsman, surprisingly, was VVS Laxman, missing his fifty, but managing 48 runs from 34 balls. That was until Sharma arrived.

Yet, the day belonged to Kings XI. Chasing 164 already seems to appear like an easy target, but Western Australia recruit Shaun Marsh and his 83 from 62 balls made it look even easier.