Pune Warriors v Deccan Chargers, IPL 2012, Pune

White powers Deccan to 177

Cricket +

20 overs Deccan Chargers 177 for 4 (White 78) v Pune Warriors

Cameron White was a $1.1m liability for Deccan Chargers last season, and had done little of note so far this year as well. In the interim he had not just been sacked from the captaincy of the Australia Twenty20 side, he had lost his place in it as well. The inaugural Big Bash League had been a disaster as well, as he scratched out 55 runs in eight matches.

The nightmare finally came to an end at the Subrata Roy Sahara stadium in Pune, as he slammed 78 against Pune Warriors. The familiar, muscular straight hits finally made a reappearance as he powered Chargers to a competitive 177 for 4, raising hopes of a maiden victory this season.

White got his chance to bat early as the openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel, fell within the Powerplay after providing a cracking start. Those wickets stalled Deccan as White and Kumar Sangakkara, who demoted himself to No. 3 this game, mostly picked up singles for the next few overs.

More to follow

Deccan Chargers made several changes to their side as they searched for their first win of the season. Fast bowler Dale Steyn was left out, though there was no word on whether he was injured or whether this was a strategic decision. South African quick Rusty Theron took his place. Other changes included a recall for fast bowler Manpreet Gony, and a first game for allrounder Ashish Reddy.

Pune Warriors had their marquee player, Yuvraj Singh, on hand to cheer them on at their home ground as they looked to bounce back from defeat to Delhi Daredevils. They made a couple of changes: experienced left-arm spinner Murali Kartik missed out, as did allrounder Luke Wright, who had been unwell yesterday. Their places were taken by West Indian allrounder Marlon Samuels and fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Deccan won the toss and decided to bat, with their captain expecting the pitch to stay low later in the evening. However, Sourav Ganguly didn't expect the track to deteriorate, saying that it should stay the same for 40 overs.

Pune Warriors: 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Manish Pandey, 3 Sourav Ganguly, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Steven Smith, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Mithun Manhas, 8 Alfonso Thomas, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Rahul Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra

Deccan Chargers: 1 Kumar Sangakkara, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Parthiv Patel, 4 Cameron White, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Ishank Jaggi, 7 Ankit Sharma, 8 Ashish Reddy, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Juan Theron, 11 Manpreet Gony