Bangalore, led by Man of the Match Kumble's four-wicket haul, had restricted Chargers to a modest 143 but they lost wickets at regular intervals while chasing to go down by six runs.
Kumble felt Andrew Symonds' dismissal of Taylor and Kohli in the 15th over spelt doom for the Challengers.
"On this wicket, chasing 144 is not a big task. We needed seven runs an over but suddenly we lost Taylor and Kohli after Rahul Dravid's dismissal and that put the breaks on us. There were no partnerships and the run-rate shot up. In fact, we came one hit away from a victory," he said.
Bangalore found themselves staring down the barrel after they lost four matches in a row at the start of the tournament and needed to win every single match thereafter to stay alive in the competition. Kumble said he is proud his team managed to do that.
"Two weeks ago, when we sat down after the Mumbai (Indians) game, it was a tough task
to win all our five matches. But all credit to the team for performing so well and reaching the finals.
Both the finalists had finished at the bottom in the inaugural IPL and Kumble applauded the Deccan Charges for their performance to win the title.
"Both of us finished at the bottom of the table last year. But it is creditable the way Chargers turned things around to win the title this year and I congratulate them.
"It is disappointing to finish second but I will like to thank my team for all the support. They have done exceptionally well."
On his performance Sunday, which included the crucial wickets of Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma, Kumble said: "For someone like Gilchrist, it was important for me to start the proceedings and lead from the front whenever the situation became tough."
--Indo-Asian News Service
SPORT IPL KUMBLE
Twin-blows hurt our chances: Kumble
Johannesburg, May 25 (PTI) The IPL trophy slipped out of their hands when Andrew Symonds dismissed Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli in successive balls, reckons Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble.
Chasing 144 to win, Bangalore were taking good strides towards the target but the Australian all rounder tilted the balance in favour of Deccan with his twin-strike.
The final match defeat naturally rankles but Kumble took solace from the fact that they reached the summit clash after a not so inspiring start.
"Obviously it hurts when you reach the final and... But I think 143 was gettable on this track with our batting line-up. We were cruising but I think those two wickets in two balls didn't help our cause.
"I think we should have had some decent partnership when we came really close. I think that is really disappointing. If you look at the whole tournament I think the way we bounced back and came to the final was really incredible," Kumble told reporters after losing the final by six runs.
Kumble was extremely successful with ball in his hands as he finished second highest wicket taker in the season with a tally of 21 wickets, including four in the final.
Kumble said the responsibility of leading the team brought the best out of him. More PTI AT AT 05251104 DELHI
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SPORT IPL KUMBLE 2 LAST
"When captaincy came after Kevin has to go back – that was a challenge for me and it really helped my game and gave me a new challenge and a new dimension to handle the team with various internationals there and you know it was different.
"Twenty20 is a different game because it is really fast paced. I thought I did pretty well. Personally it was very good but from team's perspective it was brilliant. It would have been nice if we would have won today. But I think credit to the way we played right through the tournament," Kumble said.
Bangalore, the team that was laughed off as a bunch of Test cricketers in the inaugural edition did remarkably well this season.
On being asked what turned around the things for them, he said, "Not rocket science really. It is just that you try and encourage everyone to go out there and enjoy. It is a Twenty20 game and you need to back yourself and probably may be really brave and back yourself.
"So, we played really bravely and encouraged everyone to go out there and enjoy. It is exactly what we have tried to do in the last three or four weeks. And everyone responded really well. We reached the final."
Kumble did not forget to mention about the contribution made by coach Ray Jennings in team's stupendous show.
"He has brought a lot of experience of South Africa. The boys have rallied around him. I would also like to thank the coaching staff. We had a good bunch and we worked really hard," he said. PTI AT AT 05251115 DELHI
