Bangalore crush Deccan by nine wickets

Royal Challengers Bangalore 86 for 1 (Dravid 35*) beat Deccan Chargers 82 (Kumble 4-16) by nine wickets

In a yawn-inducing crawl, Deccan Chargers meandered to 82, the lowest total of the season, and Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked it off without much fuss to book their spot in the next Champions League.

Not many people bothered to turn up for the game, nine Deccan batsmen scored less than five runs and a dull, almost anaesthetic, atmosphere prevailed through their innings. Adam Gilchrist's early dismissal set the tone for the innings: It was a slow gentle full toss from Anil Kumble and while it was in its trajectory you felt it was going to be smashed for a six but Gilchrist contrived to hit it to deep backward square-leg where Jacques Kallis took a neat catch.

It was that kind of a dull and dreary night. Perhaps the loss in semi-final had sapped Deccan, perhaps it was just one of those nights when nothing went right for them and it made for almost painful watching experience.

Bangalore ticked off all the boxes that were required of them: Kumble showed his intent by opening against Gilchrist, Praveen Kumar mixed his cutters with slower ones in a tight spell, and Dale Steyn, though not as pacy as he has been in this tournament so far, was accurate to keep the batsmen in check. Monish Mishra played all around a straight delivery from Praveen to be trapped in front and Rohit Sharma threw his wicket away with a lame pull shot to mid-on.