Brilliant Bangalore in Champions League

Mumbai: A peerless show by the Royal Challengers Bangalore saw the Deccan Chargers being thrashed by nine wickets at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday. With this emphatic win, Bangalore book their spot in the Champions League to be played in September later this year. The Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings have already made it, by virtue of being the finalists of this year's IPL.
It was a sorry tale for the Deccan Chargers in their last appearance this year as the Royal Challengers bowled them out for 82. Only two batsmen from the Deccan innings reached double figures while as many as five batsmen made no score. Chasing the small 83-run target, Bangalore reached home in the 14th over.
Rahul Dravid (35 not out off 30) and Kevin Pietersen (29 not out off 21) ensured there were no miracles by the Chargers on a tricky surface. For the most part of their chase, a Test-like field was set with Deccan searching for wickets but Bangalore batsmen were too experienced to fall into any sort of trap.
Jacques Kallis (19 off 32) now has a two-run lead over Sachin Tendulkar for the race to the Orange Cap. The Mumbai skipper will have a chance on Sunday to seal the Orange Cap in case he plays in the final against Chennai.
Anil Kumble was the hero for the Bangalore with the skipper taking four wickets for 16 runs in 3.3 overs. Praveen Kumar and Jacques Kallis picked two wickets each.
Anirudh Singh was the only bright spot in the Deccan innings as the youngster sparkled with a gritty 39-ball 40 in a pressure situation. Had it not been for Anirudh's endeavour, Deccan could have had a worse embarrassment in store for them.
After electing to bat, when Adam Gilchrist (four) smashed Kumble's first ball for four, it looked like the Deccan skipper might write a different script after failing for 15 games on the trot. But two balls later, he smashed a regulation full toss down the fine-leg's throat and it was all over for Gilchrist. Deccan collapsed from there as poor shot selection and sharp bowling accounted for an insipid batting performance.
Praveen trapped Monish Mishra (zero) and Rohit Sharma (zero) as Deccan were in tatters at 15-3. Praveen could have had his third straight wicket, that of Andrew Symonds but Dale Steyn dropped a sitter on the ropes. However, the South African redeemed himself by picking up the wicket of Symonds (two) in the next over.
When Dwayne Smith (five) was the outfoxed by a Kumble googly, Deccan had lost half their side for just 35 runs on the board in the ninth over. Venugopal Rao along with Anirudh brought some sanity to the innings by attempting a recovery. But Kallis came to the attack to snare Anirudh.
Nayan Doshi, making his IPL debut for Bangalore, hammered the final nail in the coffin when he sent back Rao for 24.
Kumble came back into the attack to finish the Deccan innings clinically.