Johannesburg, May 19: There is something about chasing under lights at the Wanderers that leaves batsmen crease-bound. The number 135 probably adds to it. Delhi Daredevils had nothing to gain but a further two points to their tally of 18. And as Virender Sehwag had said: less time on the meeting table with the owners. In a well fought match Bangalore won by seven wickets to keep their semi-final chances alive.

Needing that 135 to keep their semifinal hopes alive, Bangalore failed to plan their chase in the first 10 overs but made up for it with some aggressive cricket towards the end. The bowling of Avishkar Salvi and Andrew McDonald was nowhere near threatening, but only 54 runs came in the first 10 overs.

Robin Uthappa was guilty of chasing a wide delivery, not his only mistake for the day. There was a stage in the game where Rahul Dravid (38, 34b) and man of the match Kallis (58, 56b) looked only for singles. The fear of them leaving too much for the latter half grew with every over.

There was some urgency on resumption. With 81 still to get Bangalore required a different approach and it was evident from ball one where Dravid crashed Daniel Vettori to the cover fence. Losing Dravid and Ross Taylor (25, 12b), who hit three huge sixes, did not upset the plans as Mark Boucher and Kallis guided them home.

Earlier, a few rousing hits from Gautam Gambhir, a well planned Mexican wave from the crowd and steady bowling from Bangalore dominated proceedings. In a match where Bangalore had everything to play for and Delhi complacency to guard against, the former came up on top with a spirited effort on the field. Astute leadership by the ageless Anil Kumble was another contributing factor.

Praveen Kumar lifted the side with two wickets. It looked surreal even for the bowler. Virender Sehwag did his side a favour by wining the toss but did little with the bat, tapping tamely to mid-wicket. Mithun Manhas wasted a rare opportunity at three. He chose the wrong line to pull and gloved a catch to the wicketkeeper. With no Tillakaratne Dilshan to provide substance it was all left to Gambhir and AB de Villiers.

The introduction of Akhil saw Gamhir break free. A fierce square cut was followed by a straight driven six. Kallis was rewarded for his persevering length when Gambhir offered an easy catch to covers. It was an all to familiar tale for Delhi.

Kallis who was bowled out of his quota went for only 17. The 11th over has proved to be a bad omen for all teams except Delhi but the law of averages caught up when de Villers chopped a ball from his countryman van der Merwe on to his stumps.

McDonald playing his first match was yorked by Kumble as Delhi teetered at 70/5. It took the experience of Dinesh Karthik and the exuberance of debutant Yogesh Nagar to get the innings on the road again.

The duo added 40 runs in quick time before Kumble struck again. Karthik stood out with his elegant placements. An inside out cover drive off Kumble was the best he played.

Praveen came back on to dismiss the dangerous Karthik. Delhi’s last five overs produced 44 runs, thanks to some poor fielding by Uthappa, as they finished with 134, the exact score Kings XI had managed to post here against Deccan Chargers on Sunday. It was a total that always looked below par, especially against an experienced batting side.

Scores: Delhi Daredevils 134/7 in 20 overs (D. Karthik 31, AB de Villiers 28; P. Kumar 3/30, A. Kumble 2/24) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 135/3 in 19 overs (J. Kallis 58 n.o., R. Dravid 38; Y. Nagar 2/20).