Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Deccan Chargers by 13 runs after being in a position of strength at the VCA Ground here on Monday night.
Following a wonderful exhibition of fast bowling by Dale Steyn that restricted Deccan Chargers to 151, RCB appeared all set to score a commanding victory with Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid in full control.
But in a matter of minutes RCB's fortunes nosedived after Dravid left the scene putting on 74 for the second wicket. Kallis and Dravid had carried out the repair work after Manish Pandey fell off the first ball.
Chargers bounced back with Kallis, Virat Kohli and Cameron White challenging the deep fielders in B. Sumanth and Andrew Symonds. R.P. Singh captured Ross Taylor's wicket and Harmeet Singh's fastish leg-break castled Robin Uthappa, who had raised hopes of an RCB victory after taking 21 runs off Ryan Harris in the 18th over.
“They could have played better shots. This game was in our hand. Rahul Dravid was the man who was chiefly instrumental in putting us on course after Manish's dismissal.
“But the game fell apart for us. One has to play good cricketing shots on a big ground. We did not play sensibly in the last seven or eight overs,” said RCB captain Anil Kumble.
Earlier Steyn demanded scalps after his captain offered him a chance to exploit the fresh wicket. There is no better sight in cricket than a fast bowler steaming in right from the first ball. Steyn was straightaway in the off-side channel and beating Herschelle Gibbs, a calculated selection to deal with the likes of Steyn and Jacques Kallis, at the expense of Dwayne Smith.
Steyn beat Adam Gilchrist by sheer pace and forced a regulation catch to the wicketkeeper. The Chargers captain walked; it was the second time in 12 matches Gilchrist has departed without getting off the mark.
If the downfall of the rival captain signified a big breakthrough, Kumble's decision to bowl first was amply vindicated when Steyn directed a snorter under Tirumalasetti Suman's armpit and the in-form right-hander could do no more than fend the ball awkwardly to Ross Taylor positioned a few metres behind his hip.
Rohit Sharma, who faced the hat-trick ball, proceeded to demonstrate his ample skills against fast and spin bowling.
Gibbs, who was dropped by Taylor at mid-wicket off Vinay Kumar's first ball, immediately danced down the pitch to lift a six over mid-wicket.
In an absorbing contest between two South Africans, the ruthless Steyn won; Gibbs was beaten in the air and off the pitch and bowled neck and crop.
If Steyn's first three overs thrilled the biggest turnout at the Jamtha in three matches, Sharma's fine strokeplay and Mohnish Mishra's chutzpah, hitting a six each off Kumble, Kohli and K.P. Appanna, introduced elements of a true contest.
The scores: Deccan Chargers: H. Gibbs b Steyn 12 ( 10b, 1x4, 1x6), A. Gilchrist c Uthappa b Steyn 0 ( 1b), T. Suman c Taylor b Steyn 0 ( 1b), R. Sharma c Pandey b Vinay Kumar 51 ( 46b, 7x4), M. Mishra (run out) 41 ( 30b, 1x4, 3x6), A. Symonds st. Uthappa b Kumble 19 ( 20b, 2x4) , R. Harris (not out) 13 ( 9b, 1x6), B. Sumanth (not out) 6 ( 4b); Extras (lb-4, nb-1,w-4): 9. Total (for 6 wkts in 20 overs): 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-14, 4-96, 5-131, 6-133.
RCB bowling: Steyn 4-0-18-3, Vinay Kumar 3-0-19-1, Kallis 4-0-40-0, Kumble 4-0-27-1, Kohli 2-0-16-0, Appanna 3-0-27-0.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: M. Pandey c Gilchrist b Harris 0 ( 1b), J. Kallis c Sumanth b Ojha 27 ( 37b, 1x4), R. Dravid c Sumanth b Symonds 49 ( 35b, 8x4), R. Uthappa b Harmeet 34 ( 20b, 3x6) , R. Taylor b R.P. Singh 1 ( 5b), V. Kohli c Sumanth b Ojha 3 ( 4b), C. White c Symonds b R.P. Singh 4 ( 3b), R. Vinay Kumar b Harris 4 ( 7b), D. Steyn lbw b Harmeet 0 ( 1b), A. Kumble (not out) 2 ( 4b), K.P. Apanna (run out) 1 ( 1b); Extras (lb-4, w-9): 13. Total (in 19.4 overs): 138.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-74, 3-95, 4-101, 5-104, 6-110, 7-134, 8-134, 9-137.
Deccan Chargers bowling: Harris 3.4-0-34-2, R.P.Singh 4-0-21-2, Symonds 4-0-33-1, Ojha 4-0-22-2, Harmeet 4-0-24-2 .
