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Chargers off to a disastrous start

Deccan Chargers were off to a disastrous start after Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bat first.

Gilchrist, who has been in woeful form throughout the series, was sent packing by Anil Kumble, when he hit a juicy full toss straight down square leg's throat.

The very next over Praveen Kumar caught Monish Mishra right in front of the wicket off the very first ball he bowled. An over later, he then sent back Rohit Sharma, who played a poor shot under the circumstances, and was caught by Kevin Pietersen at long on.

And when Dale Steyn found the edge of dangerous Andrew Symonds, Chargers were reeling at 27 for the loss of four wickets in the sixth over.

Symonds, who was dropped by Steyn the over before, made amends when he bowled a peach of a delivery, which got the edge of Symonds and was safely pouched by Robin Uthappa.

Photographs: IPL/Getty Images

Anirudh the lone ranger

Dwyane Smith, who came in after Symonds' wicket too didn't last long as he was cleaned up by a Kumble quicker delivery.

However Anirudh Singh and Venugopla Rao got their act together and tried their best to revive the innings. Venugopal Rao tried to break the shackles with a boundary off Kevin Pietersen, and Anirudh too followed it up with a streaky boundary two balls later.

Anirudh then hit debutant Nayan Doshi for a maximum, but was soon cleaned up by Kallis after a fighting 40 off 39 balls.

Venugopal too fell in the next over when he miscued a Doshi delivery right into the hands of Cameron White for 24.The duo added 43 runs for the sixth wicket.

Chargers register lowest total of IPL

With none of the batsmen, being able to stay at the wicket for long, the Chargers were bundled out for a miserable 82 in just 18.3 overs.

For Royal Challengers, Kumble was the most successful bowler, picking up four wickets for 16 runs from 3.3 overs.

Paveen Kumar and Kallis picked up two wickets apiece.

Royal Challengers begin well

Chasing a modest 83 to win, Royal Challengers began well, with both Kallis and Rahul Dravid, starting off with boundaries.

Kallis got the innings going with a boundary off Ryan Harris' and then followed it up with yet another boundary off Andrew Symonds.

Dravid too got his act together, hitting Symonds, as Royal Challengers looked to finish the game early.

However Deccan Chargers got the breakthrough, when Rohit Sharma enticed Kallis to play a lose shot and was caught by the bowler.

The Kallis and Dravid duo added 36 for the first wicket, which killed all the hopes of the Chargers fight back.

Bangalore register a nine-wicket win

After Kallis' dismissal, Bangalore, didn't allow the innings momentum to drop as Kevin Pietersen and Dravid stitched up an unbeaten 50-run stand to finish with a comprehensive nine-wicket win for the visitors.

With the win Bangalore qualify for the Champions League. Pietersen hit the winning run, with a six off Ojha.

Dravid made a useful 35 off 30 balls, with five hits to the fence, while Pietersen finished with an impressive 29 off 21 balls, with one boundary and two huge sixes.