Somerset pulled off a huge upset on their Champions League debut by beating Indian Premier League winners Deccan Chargers by one wicket off the last ball of the match.

The Sabres are now in pole position to qualify for the next phase thanks to a man of the match effort from Alfonso Thomas.

First the South African took two for 25 from four overs and then he hit the winning runs as he finished as top scorer on 30 not out.

James Hildreth was the only other Somerset batsman to pass 20 with 25 off 24 balls as the county chased down Deccan's 153-9 in 20 overs.

Somerset had looked set to win easily after Thomas and Pete Trego (two for 19) had bowled so well.

But in front of around 40,000 fans at the international stadium in Hyderabad Somerset just held their nerve.

Marcus Trescothick was the first to go when he tried to pull a fourth four and got a top-edge behind off RP Singh for 14.

That brought in Zander de Bruyn and he helped Justin Langer stay ahead of the required run-rate before the South African became wicketkeeper Aadam Gilchrist's second victim when he edged Singh for 19 from 15 balls.

And there was a third wicket for Singh next ball when Langer hoiked the left-armer straight to mid-on for 15.

From then it was down to Somerset's youngsters and Craig Kieswetter fell two overs later when he tried to lift a six wide of mid-on off the spin of Pragyan Ojha for five.

Trego was next to go when he skied Tirumalasetti Suman to deep mid-wicket for 12 and half the Sabres wickets were down for 84.

And Arul Suppiah went for 19 when he too was caught on the leg-side trying to go aerial to Ojha. The safe hands of Scott Styris took the catch.

Ben Phillips survived a stumping appeal to the third umpire but then holed out off Suman to mid-wicket the next over for five.

There was real drama at the start of the 17th over when West Indies paceman Fidel Edwards was ordered out of the attack for bowling his second beamer of the innings - this time to James Hildreth.

That blow caused Deccan to use a ninth different bowler - Andrew Symonds - and he was late cut for four by Thomas for a crucial boundary to leave 14 needed from 12 balls.

Thomas then flicked Singh past short fine leg for another four and five were needed from the final over.

Hildreth was bowled by Styris the next delivery to leave a run a ball required and youngster Max Waller, who did not bowled earlier, on strike.

Waller missed the second ball and then was caught and bowled by Styris from delivery number three.

However, crucially, Thomas had time to cross while the ball is in the air and so was on strike with Somerset nine wickets down and three balls to go.

Thomas then square drove a full toss to the boundary to level the scores and ensure that the worst Somerset could do was take the game to a super over eliminator.

The next ball - the second last - was a dot but Thomas hit the last of the match to the point boundary to trigger undiluted Somerset delight.

Earlier, Gilchrist had threatened to set up a massive score for the Chargers after Langer had inserted the hosts.

The former Australia wicketkeeper smashed 18 from eight balls with one six before he tried to pull Thomas and popped the ball up to Trescothick in the gully.

Suman made just six before Trescothick took a better catch, timing his jump at slip to perfection to remove the Indian in Phillips' first over.

However, Laxman's pyrotechnics ensured Deccan ended the powerplay overs on 63-2.

But with the fielding restrictions relaxed, Phillips and Trego stemmed the scoring rate and a frustrated Symonds tried to slap the latter bowler over long-on and holed out into the hands of Hildreth for eight.

And Laxman was also guilty of an injudicious big hit as he tried to swat Trego's slower ball off-cutter. Uncharacteristically, the India Test star played too early and was bowled for 46 from 35 balls.

Young Indian prospect Rohit Sharma (24 from 21) then threatened to re-take the initiative for the Chargers but, after hitting de Bruyn for four and six, he again failed to clear long-on, with Alfonso Thomas taking the catch.

New Zealander Styris (13) was next to go when Thomas won a leg before decision against him slightly luckily as the ball was creeping down the leg-side.

Phillips then returned to claim two wickets in an over. First RP Singh tried to run the ball to third man and was bowled before Yalaka Rao (22) became the third player to be caught at long-on two balls later.

And with eight wickets down, Ojha was run out after Edwards tried to sneak a bye but a quick throw from Kieswetter to Thomas completed the dismissal.

For more details see Monday's Evening Post and Western Daily Press.