IPL 7: It's Blooper Time! Mumbai Indians Win But Commentators Lose
Mumbai Indians defeated Rajasthan Royals in a match that forced commentators to earn their bread the hard way. As equations to book a spot in playoffs were thrown forward, they found themselves on the wrong side of the numerical thriller.
- Ashish Maggo
- Updated: June 23, 2014 06:29 PM IST
When Mumbai Indians came to bat against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, they had a mountain of a task at hand. Not only did they need to chase 190 to win, they also had to chase it in just 14.3 overs if they were to complete an epic comeback in this year's Indian Premier League and make the playoffs.
What Corey Anderson then did in his 44-ball unbeaten knock of 95 will be talked about for a long time. There was Ambati Rayudu's merciless hitting and Aditya Tare's dramatic last-ball six too but Anderson clearly stole the show.
Lose the first five games, win the next two, lose two more and then win five games on the bounce to make the playoffs. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma admitted after winning the match it would take time for him to catch his breath. After all, his team had given fans at the Wankhede Stadium some of the best moments of their lives.
Mumbai reached 195 in 14.4 overs courtesy Tare's last ball six, which was just marginally enough to get ahead of Rajasthan on the net run-rate count and take them to the playoffs. Harbhajan Singh lifted owner Nita Ambani on his shoulders and there were smiles and hugs all around the dugout.
However, one thing that was very noticeable in this historic chase were some of the bloopers from the IPL commentators. They were so excited during the match that they forgot to get some of their facts right. There was a comedy of errors on the field and a similar one in the commentary box.
After Rayudu was run out on the third ball of the 14th over with the score on 189, the Rajasthan team started celebrating as if they had secured their spot in the playoffs. Suddenly however, the commentators threw some light on their faces and discovered that if a boundary was hit on the next ball, Mumbai will qualify since the NRR would be calculated off either 193 or 195 runs in 14.4 overs. (Also read: Corey Anderson lauds Rayudu, Tare after MI's sensational win over RR)
However, that was not the end of the 'revelation'. Tare hit a six off the next ball and a commentator shouted, 'It's AMBATI RAYUDU again', only to be left a little embarrassed. Rayudu had left the field after being run out off the very previous delivery and several minutes had passed before the final one was bowled.
Oh and then there were two other commentators who had an 'off-day' as a team! They started a discussion on whether James Faulkner could have bowled a wide and helped Rajasthan secure a playoff spot that way. They were obviously forgetting that the extra run would have made the score 190, without the ball being counted and the overs still reading as 14.3, the equation needed for Mumbai to qualify.
While sporting excitement momentarily got the better of commentators here, in countries like United States of America, sports commentators have known to be taken apart by fans for the minutest of errors on air. Luckily for their Indian counterparts though, it is the game which is remembered eventually - not the follies on air.