A match under Cloud

66th match: Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai - May 15, 2013

Mumbai Indians 166/8 (20/20 ov); Rajasthan Royals 152/7 (20/20 ov)

Mumbai Indians won by 14 runs

The match is already under fixing cloud. Dravid dropped a sitter of Tare in the 7th over. But alas! there is no recording of a conversation with a bookie to tell it was on purpose. We won't believe our eyes but will believe only when after years some conversation is recorded somewhere or some agency tells us something. The book 'Inside the Boundary Line' suddenly appears to have come alive. The sign language, the mafia running the fixing from abroad, another big scandal being brushed under the carpet naming it just some astray spot-fixing, all is there.

81 runs were scored in the first session of 10 overs, much higher than the usual or average in the tournament, especially for MI who had been scoring slowly in the first session so far. And it was for this purpose that Chavan was made to bowl as he did in his second over. I doubt if betting is done for score in a particular over. No doubt, all had to be involved in this session manipulation as always is/has to be the case. The bookie telling Chandila/Chavan to wait till session was over, also clearly points to that the end purpose was session score.  

As mostly happens, the dropped batsman Tare hurt RR much to the extent that they lost in the end, even though MI, uncharacteristic of them in this tournament, faltered badly in the end overs, playing dots, to score only 27 in last 4, in contrast to big hitting at will just in the last match to win that from almost an impossible situation. That was the session manipulation and fixing to make punters lose badly through that 10-20 overs session betting as well.

How precisely Rayudu hit the ball to get caught just inside the boundary! Such precision one can see almost in every match, and in thousands of catches having been given, through past recordings. 

Obviously the script had demanded RR to lose this match, and they batted to lose in a one-sided affair without much fight, having successfully chased in many earlier matches.

The odds never or hardly ever went beyond starting odds of 1.7 in f/o MI such that punters expecting RR to chase well as in previous matches, and backing RR hardly got chance to come to a win-win position or cover their losses.