Five-ball over robs India chance of victory

A glaring umpiring error in the 30th over of the Indian innings robbed India a chance of what could have been their third victory in the ongoing tri-series, here today.

The match ended in a tie with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni managing three runs of the final Malinga delivery in the 50th over to level the scores. When Lasith Malinga bowled the 30th over of the day, the Sri Lankan pacer sent down five deliveries after which the umpires indicated over change. The five deliveries in the 30th over had yielded nine runs with Dhoni taking single of the fifth delivery.

With the match ending in a tie, there was every possibility that India could have ended on a winning note had that sixth delivery of the 30th over been bowled. A solitary umpiring blunder by Englishmen Simon Fry and Nigel Llong changed the outcome of the match which could have gone India's way.

The Indian captain made his displeasure clear but also admitted that they can't make a "big fuss" out of the issue.

"It's done and dusted with. We can create a big fuss out of it but what's the point? It's like a controversy standing right on the edge...just about to happen. What's the point as it's a controversy which is right there and we don't really want to get into anything like that...Hopefully, it won't be repeated, not only with us but not even with any other side," Dhoni stated at the post-match press conference.

"As I said, we have seen in the past. We have bowled an over and we almost changed sides but the third umpire interferred and said "Ok you have to bowl one more bowl in this particular over but it did not happen in this game." I don't know why? Nothing can be done right now," the skipper added.

The BCCI's Working Committee had met in Chennai yesterday but had failed to resolve the standoff.

The Board's Working Committee rejected some demands of the long-time sponsor and refused to make "exceptions" for the company which will now have to decide its future in the IPL.

After over three hours of deliberation at its Working Committee meeting, the BCCI said it had communicated its decisions with regards to Sahara's demands to the company and was hoping for a "favourable response".

The BCCI had also made it clear that while it could show some flexibility but it should not be expected to make exceptions for the corporate giant, which owns the costliest IPL team.

"Issues that had to be decided were placed before the committee and we have conveyed the response from the working committee to Sahara and we hope the response would be favourable," BCCI President N Srinivasan had told reporters after the meeting.

Sahara had signed a renewed sponsorship agreement with the BCCI on July 1, 2010 till December 31, 2013 and was paying Rs. 3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 International under the new terms. The deal is said to be worth Rs. 532 crore.

The BCCI stands to lose close to Rs 2000 crore if no solution is found. However, the Board can find another sponsor to neutralise the losses.