We were cheated by YMCA and Rajajinagar Colts - 7/6/2008

Sunday was my darkest sporting day. We were cheated by two 3rd division teams YMCA and Rajajinagar Colts (RC ) in state cricket league. This resulted our team (Vijaya cricket club) denied a chance to get promoted to 2nd division, instead YMCA got there by fixing their match with Rajajingar colts.

Let me explain in details.

Scenario before Sunday's match; these were last round of fixtures for this season.

1. If we (Vijaya) beat Young Cricketers(YC) (already confirmed to get demoted), and YMCA loose to RC, then we will go through.
2. If we (Vijaya) beat YC and YMCA/RC match ends in draw, then also we will go through.
3. If we (Vijaya) loose to YC and YMCA loose to RC ,then RC will go through.
4. If YMCA beat RC, they will go through irrespective of result in our match.

How things unfolded on Sunday

1. We won the toss and got YC team all out for 224. We were worried of rain interruptions, and made sure that we got to the target ASAP (in 22 overs); in the hindsight this was our mistake.
2. In the match between YMCA and RC, YMCA batted first , and had to declare around 185 to have a chance of bowling out RC to win their match.
3. When we finished our match, RC 40/0 chasing 186, and reached 130/1 by the time we reached near the ground where their match was being played. In the drinks break YMCA team members, lead by Santosh vadeyaraj (played few matches for Karnataka ranji team) convinced RC team to throw the match by stating that we had fixed our match. After this, RC batsmen threw their wickets and made sure that they lost the match; even score was not updated when ball went for 4 byes.
5. Finally, YMCA won that match; they will play in 2nd division next year. The look on their faces after the match said it all; they were worse than a demoted team.

Request.
If you see any of the YMCA or RC players (listing the prominent ones below for easy identification) anywhere in offices, cricket grounds, or other social gatherings, please let them know that they have let our favourite game down by not playing according to the spirit of the game.
1. YMCA - Santosh vadeyaraj - works and represents Vijaya bank
2. YMCA Jayakumar, Srinath - work and represent karnataka forest department
3. RC- Samarth Hegde - works and represents ANZ IT in corporate cricket. ( I have played quite a bit of cricket with him)
4. RC- Rakshan Rai, Manikant

In the end, cricket was the loser at the hands of manipulative people.