Deccan score 26 off last over to beat Kolkata

Deccan Chargers scored 26 off the last over to beat the hapless Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in another Indian Premier League cliffhanger on Saturday.

Kolkata looked like finally earning its second win in 12 matches when it made Deccan need 21 to win off the last over at Wanderers.

Then Rohit Sharma started with a boundary off a no ball because Kolkata didn't have enough fielders in the circle. That was followed with a leg bye, a single and a six by Sharma over midwicket off the official third ball, leaving Deccan to score eight off three balls.

Mashrafe Mortaza bowled a wide.

Seven needed, still off three balls.

Sharma scored two, then a boundary through covers. One was needed off the last ball for the victory and Sharma pulled it over fine leg for a six to pull off the most unlikeliest of victories.

"I thought we'd blown away another one," Deccan captain Adam Gilchrist said. "But Rohit was fantastic out there today."

Deccan, rising to third in the standings, made 166-4 after last-placed Kolkata notched 160-5.

Sharma, named man of the match, hit 32 off 13 balls with two sixes and three fours. He was helped at the other end by Venugopal Rao, who ran well between the wickets for his 7 not out.

Deccan made a flying start with Gilchrist topscoring with 43 and putting on a solid 68-run stand with Herschelle Gibbs, who posted 28.

Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who enticed Gibbs to hole out to deep midwicket, was the pick of the Kolkata attack with 1-12.

Tirumalsetti Suman added 31 before he was run out by a combination of Ajit Agarkar and Brad Hodge in the 17th over.

Pressure intensified on Deccan when Andrew Symonds on 18 was run out off a no ball by Mortaza to leave Deccan on 128-4 in the 18th.

But Sharma and Rao engineered the escape to boost Deccan's chances of making next week's semifinals.

Earlier, Brad Hodge topscored with 48 while David Hussey added a quickfire 43 from 17 balls to guide Kolkata to 160-5.

Hodge hit five boundaries in 41 balls while his Australia teammate blasted two boundaries and four sixes.

Medium pacer Ryan Harris took 2-20 for Deccan.