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Durban, Sep 17 (PTI) Dillon du Preez and Ross Taylor scored an identical 46 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore overcome a mid-innings slump and post 154 against South Australia in their Champions League Twenty20 Group B match here today. Taylor, who cracked eight fours and a huge six during his 28-ball stay, steadied the RCB innings in middle overs while Preez capitalised on his home condition when the team was struggling at 76 for five in 10.5 overs.
Preez struck one four and four sixes during his 25-ball innings and with Cameron White (25) produced a crucial 58-run partnership to pull the team out of the pit. RCB was folded for 154 in 19.5 overs, with Daniel Christian scalping four late wickets for 23 runs.
Earlier, South Australia made the Bangalore batsmen''s life miserable on a slightly slow Kingsmead pitch. Opting to bat, the Bangalore team were off to a wobbly start as they lost two wickets in the first couple of overs.
Paceman Shaun Tait struck in the fifth ball of the match by removing Manish Pandey (4) cheaply. Pandey cracked a four off the fifth delivery off Tait but the fast bowler took revenge in the next ball when the batsman failed to tackle a rising delivery and Daniel Harris pouched a well-judged catch.
Medium pacer Gary Putland then inflicted the second loss by dismissing Robin Uthappa, who could not contribute anything, in the second delivery of the next over. Uthappa chased a ball outside off stump and cracked a slightly uppish drive but Callum Ferguson dived at cover-point region to lay hand on the fence-bound ball.
Rahul Dravid (4) then got the company of New Zealander Taylor and the duo added quick 46 runs to give the RCB some recovery before Dravid fell prey to left-arm spinner Aaron O''Brien in the seventh over. White then stepped in to pair up with Taylor and started on a cautious note.
But Tait soon scalped in-form Taylor for his second wicket after the duo had added only 16 runs. The Kiwi went after a delivery that wasn''t too wide to play a cut and got an edge straight to wicketkeeper Graham Manou who did not make any mistake.
Virat Kohli (3) then returned to the dug out in the 11th over, leaving RCB tottering at 76 for five. However, Preez then paired up with White to give a timely recovery.
But after Preez''s departure in the 17th over, when RCB was 134 for six, they lost some quick wickets and was folded for 154. For South Australia, Tait (2/23) and Putland (2/37) bagged two wickets each.
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