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Somerset 157-9 (Thomas 30no, RP Singh 3-23) beat
Deccan Chargers 153-9 (Laxman 46, Phillips 3-31) by one wicket
Airtel Champions League Group A, Hyderabad
The Champions League served up another thrilling encounter in Hyderabad where the Deccan Chargers were defeated by Somerset thanks to Alfonso Thomas's unbeaten 30 in 17 balls which included a boundary from the last ball of the match to clinch the win with one wicket in hand.
The South African's heroics enabled Somerset to reach 157 for nine in reply to the Chargers' 153 for nine, in which VVS Laxman hit 46.
Opening the batting the Indian hit seven fours in 35 balls before he was bowled by Peter Trego but useful contributions from Rohit Sharma (24) and Yalaka Venugopal Rao (22) steered the Chargers to a decent score despite three wickets from Ben Phillips.
Somerset's reply suffered as they lost regular wickets, the much-heralded return to India for Marcus Trescothick only garnering him 14 runs in 12 balls but a 50-run partnership for the eighth wicket between James Hildreth (25) and Thomas gave Somerset hope and left them five to win in the final over.
They lost both the wickets of Hildreth and Max Waller (0) before Thomas hit two boundaries in the final three balls to seal the win and complete a miserable start to the Champions League for the Indian Premier League sides, whose record so far reads: played three, lost three.
© Cricket World 2009
