Shame at Eden Gardens, Knight Riders win amid High Drama

It was a match, which generated excitement before it began, but disappointment took over, as the match progressed. The pitch was terrible. It was underprepared, had uneven bounce, was low, slow and dusty. Not a perfect wicket for a T20 match! The wicket was specially prepared for spinners to contain the strong Deccan Chargers batting line-up, and it SRK and Ganguly had success with their plan, as the Knight Riders won the match by 5 wickets, but not before a high drama that took place in a most-important T20 match.

Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat first. But their batsmen were shocked and surprised by the nature of the wicket. Nobody had expected to get such a wicket in a T20 match, where spinners bowled with slips and forward short-leg fielders. Deccan Chargers could score only 110 runs in 18.4 overs. Symonds scored 32, while Gilchrist made 23. For Knight Riders, Kartik took 3 wickets, while Agarkar claimed 2 wickets.

Since the wicket deteriorated further, Knight Riders too had a tough time, but finally they held on to their nerves and won the match by 5 wickets with one over to spare. David Hussey made an unbeaten 38. For Deccan Chargers, Ojha and Vaas took 2 wickets each. The wicket was so bad that Laxman and Ganguly got deadly blows while batting.

If the pitch produced a shocker, the organizers brought shame with their poor arrangements. When the match was on its climax, flood lights stopped working due to a sudden power failure. The match was to be stopped for more than half an hour, bringing displeasure and anger to millions of cricket fans. The BCCI must take notice from this match. It was not a good sign for the much-hyped IPL.