The curse of small totals

May 21,2009 | Abbas Ali Baig

The curse of small totals seems to have taken an unshakeable hold on IPL2.How else would you explain otherwise world-class batsmen getting themselves out in rather bizarre and inexplicable ways.(Tendulkar’s run out dismissal in an earlier match is an illustration).And this on pitches that pre- match pundits had described as excellent batting surfaces! I expect it has to be nerves .Another disease that appears to have afflicted the sides makes them prone to early loss of wickets –sometimes as early as the first over itself- and an inability to build partnerships .This in turn leads to panic and the pressure becomes such that batsmen fail to play their natural game becoming either ultra cautious or over desperate. Either way they perish.

Yesterdays match between Jaipur and Kolkata saw the latter stitch together another belated win. Chasing a meagre 101-thanks to Langeveldt’s impressive spell-they made heavy weather in reaching this target with only three balls to spare. Strange that Kolkata should have kept Langeveldt under wraps all this while because his bowling lent a cutting edge to their attack and an earlier exposure would have made all the difference to their final standing in the tournament. Shukla was brave in sticking around while wickets tumbled around him and was rightly named man of the match. The loss meant that Jaipur are now out of the tournament and the romance that Warne had brought to the proceedings has also been extinguished. Pity.

The second match saw Punjab literally throw away a golden opportunity to remain in the semi final line up. Bowling out the powerful Chennai outfit—even surprisingly without Hayden and Morkel—they must have fancied their chances and rightly so. But they put too much pressure on themselves and paid the price. Murlidharan was virtually unplayable but to treat the relatively harmless trundling of Raina and Ashwin, as if their deliveries carried cleverly laden grenades, was criminally foolish. Experienced batsmen like Yuvraj and Sangakkara succumbed without a fight and Punjab, much to the disappointment of many, literally ejected themselves out of the race. Theoretically though, they may yet survive if Hyderabad inflicts a heavy defeat on Bangalore in which case, on 14 points each, the run rate will decide who stays between Punjab and Bangalore. The other match today between Delhi and Mumbai holds only academic interest but provides an opportunity to Sehwag to regain form.