A few days ago I wrote of the problems Indian curators have in preparing sporting pitches for both players and spectators. Unfortunately this manageable perplexity was on display again at Eden Gardens when Kolkata hosted the Deccan Chargers in Game Four of the Indian Premier League.

The pitch was an absolute disgrace and any hope of a meaningful battle between bat and ball was destroyed before the toss. It was dustier than the Birdsville Track with the ball going through the top of the surface from ball one. No two deliveries behaved in the same manner and this meant Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik and Mohhamad Hafeez were virtually unplayable in the first innings and all but the two Australians surrendered without much of a fight.

Deccan captain VVS Laxman set the example early when hit on the glove playing forward to Sharma. He spinelessly took the easy road deliberately throwing his wicket away soon after rather than doing the hard yards by getting in behind the ball and risking a few bruises.

Gilchrist and Symonds played as you would expect, intelligently and bravely, and with the ball shooting and turning square they did well to get 23 and 32 respectively. Symonds did his best to hold the innings together farming the strike where possible yet still the team in beige could only bat 18 and half overs in compiling 110.

It doesn’t matter what the length of match or the state of the pitch, runs on the board are always valuable and the Deccan Chargers seam attack of Vaas, RP Singh, Styris and Banga bowled a great line cutting their fingers over the ball effectively bowling quick finger spin and in the process reducing Kolkata to just 38/3 after 10 difficult overs.

Ganguly, to his credit and in direct contrast with the opposition skipper, received his fair share of bruises playing a cool and courageous captain’s knock till the diminutive 21 year old left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha cleaned bowled him with a sharp spitting delivery when the score was 68 at the end of the 13th over.

Hafeez joined David Hussey at the crease and in a run a ball partnership they added 20 before the Pakistani also fell to Ojha attempting a telegraphed premeditated reverse sweep.

At this stage with less than four overs remaining the match was delicately poised. Tempers were fraying, the enormous crowd was in full voice, the tension was palpable and then the unthinkable happened. A light tower blew a fuse and the players strolled off to the bewilderment of all concerned.

About 20 minutes after the interruption match referee Farouk Engineer was seconds away from declaring a tie under the Duckworth/Lewis calculations when miraculously the lights ignited and sensibly the players and umpires decided to finish the match.

It was hardly worth the effort. David Hussey, as he has done on several occasions for Western Australia and Victoria, finished the match with a flurry of boundaries and deftly judged singles to end a thrilling, hazardous and ultimately anti-climactic match.

Although the pitch was bordering on dangerous and strokeplay was always a risk to wicket and limb, this match, up until the lights failed, was the most intense, bitterly fought T20 match I have ever seen and if this is the sort of contest that the IPL will produce then it thoroughly deserves its own window in the international cricketing calendar.

If you can’t see these matches, find a way. You won’t regret it.

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