20 overs Royal Challengers Bangalore 127 for 6 (Pandey 39, Dravid 33, McDonald 4-21) v Victoria
Andrew McDonald maintained a tight line and his sly cutters provided significant breakthroughs
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Victoria might have changed venues going into the second phase of the Champions League, but the conditions on offer were uncannily similar to what they faced in Delhi. It was their medium-pacers, led by allrounder Andrew McDonald, who put them in a position of control after Royal Challengers Bangalore had threatened to continue the trend of high scores at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The absence of Jacques Kallis meant Bangalore had to strengthen their line-up on two fronts; Manish Pandey made up with the bat, delivering a fiery start, while it remains to be seen if Dale Steyn can be as effective with the ball.
Victoria's seamers had thrived on a Delhi pitch that was sluggish, kept low, played slow and catered more to a game of patience than power. The track in Bangalore, on the other hand, initially appeared more suited to the demands of the Twenty20 format. The extra yards of pace from Shane Harwood and Peter Siddle were evident from the bounce and movement they were able to extract early on. But it also meant that they were countered with aggression, for the Bangalore openers, who fancied the ball meeting the bat at the desired pace, took advantage of any scoring opportunity.
Harwood has been among the most frugal bowlers in this competition, but a change of venue damaged his figures somewhat; he was struck for two boundaries in his first over, Pandey smashing one over his head for slapping one past mid-off.
Robin Uthappa, not one to restrain himself too often, deferred to the belligerence of his junior partner, who displayed shades of his IPL brilliance with two delectable on-drives off Siddle followed up by an audacious late-cut in his next over.
But the introduction of the other two seamers, and spinner Jon Holland, wrecked the solid foundation laid by the openers. Clint McKay shrugged off two boundaries off successive deliveries to bowl Uthappa with an offcutter; Pandey's aggressive disposition prompted him to slap a catch back to Andrew McDonald off a ball that didn't come on quickly and Virat Kohli holed out in the deep after failing to get the desired elevation.
Though the bounce remained true, the pitch proved highly conducive to spin and slowed down considerably. Holland, showing glimpses of what he could offer on the subsequent ODI tour of India, kept one end quiet. McDonald, in the meantime, maintained a tight line and his sly cutters, backed up by a frustrating length, earned him two significant breakthroughs. Ross Taylor, a nemesis for bowlers at the death, was caught plumb, while Rahul Dravid, whose exclusion from the ODI squad against Australia was the talking point of the day, was trapped in front while trying to force the pace.
Suddenly, the medium pacers made the conditions appear reminiscent of the Kotla, bowling slower deliveries with consistency and chipping away with wickets as one batsman after another succumbed to frustration. Only 55 runs were scored in the last ten overs, incredibly for the loss of just four wickets. Though Bangalore have their own share of bowlers capable of replicating the Victorian effort, they are up against a side more experienced batting in such conditions.
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