RCB captain Anil Kumble graciously led his team around the Chinnaswamy Stadium for a lap of honour after beating the Daredevils.

By Dominic Franks

If exuberance has been the calling card of the crowd at the Chinnaswamy throughout the Airtel Champions League Twenty20, at the Diwali double header they displayed the virtue of patience too.

At three thirty when the toss of the first game was scheduled to take place, the public address system informed the already sizeable gathering that the first match of the day between Cobras and the Bushrangers was postponed by an hour. Not a whimper escaped the ones who had come in early and their happy vigil began. 

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No reasons for the delay were offered and none were asked for, but the game crowd who had come out to celebrate the festival of lights contented themselves with sporadic performances from the cheer girls. In an age of mass mobile connectivity it's hard to believe that the early birds in the stadium were in the dark about the bomb scare that had, if only for a brief moment, imperilled the staging of Bengaluru's final match day in the tournament.

Cobras defeated the Bushrangers ending Royal Challengers' hopes of progressing to the semi-finals. This consigned the second match to a mere formality for Royal Challengers. The crowd could have drifted away, but they had come to the stadium to party amidst the festivity, to revel in the face of disappointment.

Bengaluru has an ever-increasing migrant population- both floating and residential and Delhi Daredevils had their fair share of die-hard supporters. The free Daredevil flags that were being handed out at the gates only added to the atmosphere and created a vast sea of red and blue supporters.

The presentation ceremony of the first match hadn't even started when Royal Challengers ran out onto the field. ‘Happy Birthday' blared over the loud speakers and Anil Kumble's mugshot appeared on the giant screen. As the crowd joined in the singing, one could almost sense that something special was about to happen.

Virender Sehwag lit up the stadium with his exhibitionistic batting. For eight overs it seemed that the Chinnaswamy had metamorphosised into the Kotla as shouts of ‘Viru Viru' subsumed the air more than the smoke from the fireworks did. When he was out after a blazing innings the crowd quickly turned infidel and gave their full backing to Royal Challengers. Kumble came onto bowl and gargantuan chants of ‘Jumbo Jumbo' reverberated. Every wicket that fell there after was greeted with much gusto. When the first innings was over Royal Challengers had been set a modest target of 139.

Rahul Dravid replaced an injured Manish Pandey who retired after tweaking a muscle. The Bengaluru faithful went ballistic as their batting hero strode to the crease. Uthappa wouldn't have been surprised by the cheers he received while walking back to the dugout after being dismissed. Everyone has gotten used to the rousing reception that Ross Taylor gets each time he walks out to the middle, and the crowd rose in unison to welcome their adopted son. After a few quiet overs, Taylor began his onslaught that would make sure Royal Challengers went down in a blaze of glory taking Delhi Daredevils along with them.

It was his daredevilry with the bat that somehow seemed to make Royal Challengers' impending exit inconsequential. From a tense 44/1 after 8 overs, the score miraculously catapulted to 102/1 after 12. Four overs had yielded a phenomenal 58 runs.

In the 12th over Taylor had already plundered two sixes and a four of the first four balls of an Amit Mishra over. On the fifth ball he took a single to turn the strike over to Dravid. Several thousand people were breathless from the constant shouting of Ross' name, though the dying echoes of that raucous appreciation was still substantial. As Mishra floated the ball through the air, Dravid shimmied down the wicket in a flash and launched it over the bowlers head. For a split second the crowd stood still. Then they erupted in wild hoots, mad screams and intense hugs. The jumping and cavorting carried on through the next over and ‘Taylor Taylor' had been transformed to ‘Dravid Dravid' in an instant. Even the intensity of the chant had changed from one of exhortment to one of proud possession.

The effects of the Taylor-Dravid combine were so exhausting, even Virat Kohli's cameo faded into the penumbra once ‘Rossi' had left. Royal Challengers romped home with 29 balls to spare. In their last seven hours of batting, they had plundered 95 runs.

When Kumble graciously led his team around the Chinnawamy stadium for a lap of honour it was difficult to guess who felt more grateful- the sell-out crowd for a night that they aren't likely to forget; or the Royal Challengers for a fanatical crowd that makes forgetting extremely easy.

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