Cape Town, April 22: Ravi Teja ran 15 yards, flung himself to his left and was airborne for a split second before plucking the ball out of thin air, leaving Robin Uthappa astounded. That one moment summed this match up entirely.

The Deccan Chargers are a transformed unit and will not wait for things to happen. A tigerish resolve on the field and a bowling unit working as effectively as they did in the opener shut to out the Royal Challengers by 24 runs here at the Newlands on Wednesday. It was the perfect compliment to the top-order that had ravaged the Challengers attack.

The win took Chargers to the top of the IPL table. Fidel Edwards who has been the emblematic performer for the Chargers struck with the first ball. A deadly late inswinging yorker left Jesse Ryder crease tied. The Chargers converged to celebrate; and those scenes continued all night long.

R.P. Singh worked up pace, Scott Styris was consistent and Pragyan Ojha a connoisseur’s delight with his teasing arc. The trio effectively closed all escape routes as Chargers galloped to another victory. Rahul Dravid batting with a new found freedom threatened briefly before Venugopal Rao pulled in a smart catch at long-on. Virat Kohli fought hard but the task was too tall.

Earlier the Chargers had served up a lesson in butchery. Any number of tactical timeouts would not have been enough to stop the murderous assault of Adam Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma as the Chargers piled on the misery for BRC with a massive 184/6.

Three boundaries in the first over from Praveen Kumar set the tone for Chargers. Gilchrist cut, pulled and drove with disdain. The second over was no different. Just that the skipper decided to take the aerial route this time. Local boy Herschelle Gibbs enjoyed the heavenly hitting from the best seat in the stadium.

The first four overs produced 47 runs. Chargers lost Gibbs in the bargain but not before a six off a sweep to Praveen. Kevin Pietersen looked short of ideas as Laxman joined Gilchrist. The southpaw dictated terms with great placement that was aided by extraordinary bat speed and perfect transfer of weight. His last minute adjustment in playing the cut between the two fielders stationed on the fence showed the kind of control Gilchrist exercised.

Laxman’s brief stay did pull the run rate down but Sharma made it up without wasting time. The captain-vice captain pair ran hard and did not let the loose deliveries go unpunished. Pietersen did manage a few tight overs but Jesse Ryder’s friendly pace allowed Gilchrist to free his arms over mid-wicket and long on. The two sixes got the momentum back for the Chargers.

Sharma not to be kept quiet for long decided to use the long handle himself. The youngster was guilty in the previous over of coming forward to Kumble before the ball was delivered. He reaped a rich reward for waiting. Two immaculate sixes over long on was followed by a pulled six when the bowler tried the faster one.

Against the run of play Chargers lost Gilchrist, driving tamely to covers where Virat Kholi took a smart catch. Sharma and Scott Styris lost their wickets in trying to improve the rate. The last five overs produced 37 runs, a touch less than what the Chargers would have hoped for. But the damage was already done at the top to attain the highest score of the tournament.