Friday, April 12, 2013

Player on the Mic


In the match between two titans, RCB vs KKR, on 11/4/13, put into bat KKR posted a decent 154 in 20 overs, though they looked good for 175 plus at one stage before the set batsmen Pathan and Gambhir and then Morgan threw their wickets. RCB were the comfortable favourites with 1.67 before the match, and remained favourites for most of the match, except for a short period when Pathan was on the crease.

When the RCB chase started, the fielder from KKR on the mic told the viewers that they had planned for a 150 plus score and were comfortable with the total posted. He further said that they expected ball to stop and do something, especially after six overs. Fine. Just the opposite happened. After 5 overs RCB were struggling at 21/1, still remaining favourites (with Gayle on the crease that may not be unjustified). With 22 runs scored in the 6th over (against run of play again in the last over of the session bracket of 6 overs), RCB never looked back. The ball stopping and doing something was nowhere to be seen. Both the new inductions for this match, Sangwan and Mclaren, failed miserably. Probably they had been inducted for that particular role.  

There were also a number of sure/easy run-out opportunities missed by RCB during KKR batting, though they still won comfortably. Gambhir's run-out chances were missed and he prospered. Then Pathan's easy run-out chance was missed. Punters would have thought that now he would also prosper. But he gave away his wicket soon after to leave those punters gasping. It is just another small example. Through staged cricket the fixers can trap the punters any time, they do so, and do it many ways. I hope to bring out some, if not all, of those through my humble efforts. 

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