If ever there was something that was just what the doctor ordered, it was yesterday’s match between RCB vs CSK. It had something for every type of cricket watcher – the hardcore cricket fan could hope for some high quality cricket to take his mind off the body blow dealt to his faith in cricket by Sreesanth and co, while the hardcore cricket cynic could hope for further I-told-you-it-was-fixed exultations when the likes of RP Singh get tonked all over the park. The average Joe could watch the face-off because there wasn’t anything else playing in the bar he was getting drunk in.
The Bangalore weather, however, was having none of it. Making more U-turns than Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Weather Gods teased the two camps – RCB and CSK SRH – with a steady drizzle, followed by respite, followed by steady rain once again, resulting in a frustrated Virat Kohli letting loose his choicest MC-BCs towards the skies.
Prima facie, it appears Sir Ravindra Jadeja has colluded with the weather gods to fix the outcome of the #CSKvsRCB IPL match
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
Meanwhile, if the BCCI was hoping to drive public sentiment away from Sreesanth to cricket, its channel partner Sony Max didn’t quite get the memo.
Just when BCCI hoped to get focus back on cricket, it rains in Blore & they play highlights of the match RP Singh bowls a no ball last ball
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
Happily for the patient Bangalore crowd, the rain eventually stopped, turning the T20 match to an E8 – 8 overs a side – with RCB going first. Happily for the TV audience, this meant that there would be no Strategic Timeouts.
Captain Kohli decided he wasn’t nurturing young Indian talent tonight, and replaced Saurabh Tiwary with himself at the top. The two biggest guns of RCB quickly worked out an intricate batting plan.
Bang. Boom. Swish. Crash. Wallop. Biff. Bash.
This is all this correspondent remembers of the first innings. While all of CSK’s bowlers got thrashed, particularly brutal was Chris Gayle’s assault on Jason Holder. The tall Holder, whose height and action reminds some cricket lovers of Courtney Walsh, was left looking more like Abey Kuruvilla (remember him?) after Chris Gayle took him for three consecutive leg-side sixes. Needless to say, that was the last one would see of Holder. RCB raced to 106 in the designated 8 overs.
RCB’s done half the job well. Now, all they have to do is keep Vinay Kumar and RP Singh away from the ball #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
RCB’s 106 meant that CSK had to go at 13.8 an over. The implication of this equation wasn’t lost on some.
Apparently Subramaniam Badrinath has already gone to bed #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
Undaunted, Dhoni pulled in his batsmen for a huddle and after one or two Captain-Coolish one-liners about enjoying the game and all that, Mahi dangled the blueprint of his strategy.
Dhoni to his batsmen: “To know which overs to target, look for strange gestures.. towels, wrist watches etc. Ok?” #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
It is not clear if Murali Vijay was playing to the plan, but the opener was clearly biding his time for a calculated assault later on (Ed: HAHAHAHA).
Looks like Murali Vijay wants to do it in singles #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
Zaheer Khan, in only his 2nd match this season, snagged his quota of left-handers for the match, sending back Hussey and Raina in quick succession. Murali Vijay, however, was a picture of serenity at the other end…
RCB will do well to get through their overs quickly before Murali Vijay realizes that this is not a Test match #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
Evidently the match wasn’t urgent enough for Captain Cool to come to the middle, for he sent Bravo in before himself. All part of a deliberate but tried and tested strategy.
CSK will build a strong platform in the first 6 overs and then use that as a launching pad to go for it in the final 2 #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
With 71 required from 18, Kohli must have thought this total was RP Singh proof. The left-armer came on to bowl the 6th over to Dhoni and Vijay and perhaps for the first time in his career did not bring down the Required Run Rate. He did concede 19 though, which by itself might not have been too interesting for our friends from Delhi police among the crowd, except that the two sixes conceded were to Murali Vijay. Even as the sleuths attempted to figure out what the signal was, RP Singh let loose a delivery that homed in on Murali Vijay’s er.. nether regions and brought down the gladiator from the South.
Tomorrow, when they describe Murali Vijay’s innings as fruitless, there might be more than one meaning to it :P #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
With 52 required off 11 balls, Sir Jadeja sauntered in, and was immediately faced with a massive dilemma. Should he once again reaffirm his greatness by achieving the target, or should he deign to answer the desperate prayers of his admirers from Bangalore? In the end, Sir Jadeja decided that people knew how great he was anyway, and decided to throw a bone to comeback man Zaheer Khan by gifting him his wicket.
RCB won by 24 runs. The IT city rejoiced. The other IT city, Hyderabad, not so much.
Meanwhile, Dale Steyn MC-BCs Murali Vijay, shuts the TV, flings the remote and goes to sleep #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
Safe to say that Murali Vijay is going to find some wildlife in his biryani next time he visits Paradise Hyderabad #RCBvsCSK
— The UnReal Times (@TheUnRealTimes) May 18, 2013
At the presentation party, Captain Kohli warmly acknowledged praise from one and all for having led from the front and beamed at everyone, even Ravi Shastri, until someone reminded him that RCB’s chances depend on Gambhir led KKR beating Sun Risers the next day.
