Deccan Chargers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Gilchrist won the toss for DCH this time & wisely decided to bat first. Walking in to the crease along with Gibbs, Gilly had already chosen his spot to attack. He clubbed the opening attack of RCB, & Pieterson was forced to make rapid changes in the field placing. However, runs kept oozing & the opening pair had already crossed 45 runs in the 4th over, when Gibbs fell LBW to P Kumar. Laxman in next, did not do much & immediately after the fielding restrictions were over, he holed out to Steyn off Ryder. The bowling had managed to put brakes on the scoring & even the belligerent Gilly found it difficult to keep the scoreboard ticking. Rohit was in next & both he & Gilly launched into the RCB attack, which did not have much teeth. Even Kumble failed to make an impact, & the pair scored 123 runs between them off only 75 deliveries, with some clear hits to the ropes. By the time Gilly was caught by Virat Kohli off Pieterson, he had already rattled 71 runs off just 45 ball, & the total had swelled to 127 off just 13 overs, & 200 seemed quite achievable at this stage. Styris started well, but fell soon to Pieterson (interestingly, he has been doing better with the ball than the bat), & then Rohit too fell just after getting past his fifty & the rest could not muster much. The total finally was 184. A difficult atrget to chase under the lights at Newlands, Cape town.

The RCB reply was disastrous as the much hyped Kiwi, Jesse Ryder fell to Fidel Edwards off the first ball of the innings. Kallis, Uthappa & Pieterson left quite in quick succession, & RCB were tottering at 62 for 4, just after the halfway mark. Rahul & Virat Kohli started the redemption act & played sensible yet attacking cricket & the contest looked good for a while. Rahul as surprised everyone with his consistency & scoring in this tournament, as he raced to 48 off just 27 deliveries, an innings laced with five boundaries & 2 over the ropes. He truly deserved to get back the purple cap from Hayden, something which even his best supporter would not have dreamt of, in this form of cricket. He is now the leading scorer of the tournament. Fall of Dravid in the 16th over with score at 115 for 5 meant, a near impossible task ahead for the rest of the batters. Wickest kept tumbling at the other end, as Virat Kohli waged a lone battle & got to a well deserved 50 off just 32 balls. He finally got out with just two balls to spare & eventually RCB fell short by 24 runs. RP Singh was the pick of the bowlers with splendid figures of 2 for 17 off 4 overs. He carries the bowlers purple cap, being the leading wicket taker thus far.

For DCH it has been a dream start, & the team looks to be a very cohesive winning unit, which believes in its abilities, unlike last year. RCB, having won their first game, have lost their way now with two consecutive losses, & will have to regroup their resources very quickly before its too late.
Man of the Match was Adam Gilchrist as an obvious choice.