Johannesburg, May 25 (Inditop) Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Anil Kumble says the loss of Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli off successive balls strangulated the team’s run chase against Deccan Chargers and cost them the Indian Premier League (IPL) title here Sunday.
Banagalore, led by Man of the Match Kumble’s four-wicket haul, had restricted Chargers to a modest 143 but they lost wickets at regular intervals while chasing to go down by six runs.
Kumble felt Andrew Symonds’ dismissal of Taylor and Kohli in the 15th over spelt doom for the Challengers.
“On this wicket, chasing 144 is not a big task. We needed seven runs an over but suddenly we lost Taylor and Kohli after Rahul Dravid’s dismissal and that put the breaks on us. There were no partnerships and the run-rate shot up. In fact, we came one hit away from a victory,” he said.
Bangalore found themselves staring down the barrel after they lost four matches in a row at the start of the tournament and needed to win every single match thereafter to stay alive in the competition. Kumble said he is proud his team managed to do that.
“Two weeks ago, when we sat down after the Mumbai (Indians) game, it was a tough task
to win all our five matches. But all credit to the team for performing so well and reaching the finals.
Both the finalists had finished at the bottom in the inaugural IPL and Kumble applauded the Deccan Charges for their performance to win the title.
“Both of us finished at the bottom of the table last year. But it is creditable the way Chargers turned things around to win the title this year and I congratulate them.
“It is disappointing to finish second but I will like to thank my team for all the support. They have done exceptionally well.”
On his performance Sunday, which included the crucial wickets of Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma, Kumble said: “For someone like Gilchrist, it was important for me to start the proceedings and lead from the front whenever the situation became tough.”
rounak