One up, one down!

After a fantastic encounter against the title holders on day 1 of the new season, RCB couldn't quite ignite the same fireworks against MS Dhoni's CSK on Monday. With a few surprising changes, the queer one being bringing in home favourite Jacques Kallis for Jesse Ryder, the eyebrows were already raised even before the match commenced. Hayden made the heads rise too with his unstoppable onslaught. The only thing that could stop the Hayden mayhem was a tactical timeout (which is considered to be a tactical decoy for the organisers to garner additional screen time for advertisements).

After the timeout, RCB pulled back the strings by resorting to slow bowling. Kevin Pietersen made a caterogical move to bring himself on and removed an edgy Parthiv with his first ball. Hayden got out next when he ran short of a brilliant direct hit from Rahul Dravid from point. Things quitened for a bit. Dhoni and Raina provided a middle-order impetus to clear the engulfing solemness. In the end, Freddie Flintoff showed why he is such a respected all-rounder with some clean, lusty blows to get the total to 179.

Praveen Kumar opened along with Uthappa to lead the chase. The decision backfired when he was cleaned up in the first over by Gony. A lot rested on Jacques Kallis, who walked in next to resurrect the chase. He played some sublime strokes before being trapped by fellow country man, Albie Morkel. Thereafter, the 2 big foreign signings of CSK, Flintoff and Murali brought about a middle-disorder in the RCB ranks which opened up a one-way street for their victory. Dravid once again was left alone to fight a losing battle. Finally, RCB capitulated to 87 handing their opponents the first win of the tournament.

A lot is left to ponder over regarding the team selection as well as shot selection for the men in Red. With a seemingly daunting challenge against a charged up Deccan team on 22nd April, KP needs to come out with a master plan to put the team back on track in the league. The team definitely looks better than the one that played last year, but it has to go beyond looks to lift the cup. :)