'Get rid of it': IPL team fumes over spider cam controversy
The Rajasthan Royals were left fuming by a controversial moment late on in their 37-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
Fast bowlers Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi ripped through the Royals' top order to set up the comfortable win.
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However, Rajasthan were convinced their run chase was unfairly impacted by spider cam in the dying stages of the match.
Needing 69 runs off their final 13 balls, Jaydev Unadkat blasted a shot that he and commentators thought was going for six.
Unadkat was left seething when Kamlesh Nagarkoti instead caught him out in the deep, prompting a lengthy discussion with the on-field umpires.
Rajasthan insisted that the ball hit a cable high up in the air that spider cam was suspended from, which would have rendered it a dead ball.
Umpires sent the incident up for review but the replays seemingly proved inconclusive and Unadkat was given out.
The contentious incident sparked heated debate between viewers on social media, with some insisting that the IPL should do away with spider cam altogether.
@IPL what a ridiculous umpiring by third umpire.. There is no use of technology if you can't use it.. Bowl was simply touched the spider cam but third umpire can't see it.. Now umpire fixing the matches? #RRvsKKR
— sachin garg (@saching16475263) September 30, 2020
OK, let's settle this once and for all.. the ball did not hit the spidercam cable, and Unadkat is not Spider-Man. #KKRvRR #RRvKKR #IPL2020
— Alter Ego (@Alter_Ego45) September 30, 2020
Strange things happen. Jaydev Unadkat's big hit has hit the Spider cam cable he was expecting it to be called a dead ball but umpires have made the decision of OUT #RRvKKR #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/DuWe1KXaBh
— Abhijeet ♞ (@TheYorkerBall) September 30, 2020
Ball clearly hit the wire of spider cam, whats going on. #RRvKKR
— Sachin Negi (@sachinnegi26) September 30, 2020
Not OUT. Ball Touched Wire of Spider Cam
— News Drop Box (@newsdropbox) September 30, 2020
They need to do away with spidercam. Nothing more than an unnecessary novelty.
— Birch 🏏 (@Birchola) September 30, 2020
Oh, just get rid of the damn spidercam. Better cosmetic value isn't worth compromising a fair game, especially if that camera angle isn't serving a purpose. #IPL2020 #RRvsKKR #rr #kkr
— Rishi Roy (@_rrroy_) September 30, 2020
Gill sets up win for Knight Riders
Kolkata owed its total of 174-6 to Shubman Gill’s 47 off 34 balls up front and Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 34 off 23 deliveries, before their bowlers finished off the job.
20-year-old Nagarkoti grabbed 2-13 while Mavi got the prized wickets of Sanju Samson (8) and Jos Buttler (21) to restrict Rajasthan at 137-9.
No. 7 batsman Tom Curran top-scored with 54 off 36 balls and was one of three Rajasthan batsman to reach double figures.
“It was a little different after seeing the wicket, thought it would be flat, but it was seaming around so I kept it tight,” Mavi said.
“I’ve played against some of these big players before, I knew what they would do so I made sure I just stuck to the lines and lengths.”
Earlier, Jofra Archer pinned down Kolkata’s batsmen with fine figures of 2-14 and had Gill caught off his own bowling in the 12th over.
Nagarkoti and Mavi’s early strikes left Rajasthan reeling at 5-42 in the eighth over before Rahul Tewatia was clean bowled by leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy to make it 6-66 in the 11th over.
Curran reduced the margin of defeat with some late hitting that included successive sixes off Sunil Narine to complete his half century in an otherwise a disappointing performance by Rajasthan's top order batsmen.
“We lost too many wickets up front, a few of us probably thought we’re still playing at Sharjah,” said Rajasthan skipper Steven Smith, who was caught behind in the second over after scoring only three. “We probably didn’t adapt as well as we could have to the wicket and the dimensions. We’ll wait and see about switching the XI around.”
Kolkata’s persistence with Narine as an opener failed for the third successive match when the West Indian left-hander played onto left-arm seamer Unadkat in the fifth over and was clean bowled for 15.
Andre Russell (24 off 14 balls) and Nitish Rana (22 off 17 balls) couldn’t capitalise on good starts but Morgan hit two sixes and a four which propelled Kolkata's total in the end.
It was Rajasthan’s first loss in the tournament after it won both its previous games at Sharjah.
with AP
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