Jul 9, 2006

Eeking result out of rain-affected matches

First, hearty congratulations to our Indian team for the series win in WIndies !! Though WIndies are not a major force any longer, that we could win despite the absence of Sachin, augers well for the team. A sore point, though, was that it could have easily been 3-0, or atleast, 2-0 for sure in our favor. The second test was so badly affected, but still we came just 3 wickets short of a win. If I get a powerful role in ICC, I would implement the rule that, if and when in a test match atleast 30 overs are lost due to rain/bad light, the teams' performance would be computed in terms of % and, if the difference is more than 50%, then the team with higher % wins; otherwise it would be a draw.

Let us take the second test at St. Lucia as a case study. Everyone would agree that, had India got just another session (or 30 overs), we could have taken the remaining 3 WI wickets and won by an innings.. My logistic is based on the following:

a) A team requires 20 wickets to win a match. And, it requires atleast one run more than what the other team got. So, the % of wickets and the % of runs have to be given equal weightage. In a scale of 100 (%), wickets and run share 50% each.
b) The lowest completed innings of a team is that team's 100% effort. Using that, its other innings score and the score(s) of the other team, the batting percentile out of 50 would be calculated.
c) The number of wickets would be divided by 20 and the percentage be taken. If a team declares, that is its problem. It would still be considered to have lost 10 wickets, since that innings is 'complete'.

The scores of the second test were as follows: India 588/8 d; WI 215 and 294/7.
WIndies' completed score of 215 is their 100% effort, though they bettered it in the second innings. Thus, their batting score is (215+245)/215 x 1/2 x 50, which is 59.2 %. They got 10 Indian wickets, which is 50% of wickets, so, wickets' contribution is 50/2 = 25%. Total percentage is 59.2 + 25 = 84.2 %.
India's mammoth score ensured that their batting percentile would be very high.. that is 518/215 x 50, which is 120.5. They got 17 of WIndies wickets, which is 85%, so wickets' contribution is 42.5%. Total is 163 %.
Now, the difference in the performanes between the teams is 79% - higher than the stipulated 50% and so India wins..
The introduction of this new rule doesnt rule out the possibility of draws.. so, a draw is still inevitable if a) less than 30 overs are lost in a match or b) both teams score huge in the first innings, or c) the two teams run close.. like what happened in the first match.. The difference was only 3.5%; and only some 15 odd overs could not be bowled..

MPS (Movie Post-Script):
The movies I saw recently -
1) Mitr, My friend : Thorougly enjoyed watching it. For some reason, I thought this movie was about the male protagonist having a second affair so I didnt wanna watch it. When I eventually did, I was amazed at how close it was to my fiction story. May be Revathy and me think alike.. :-)

2) Troy: A visual treat. Homer's Iliad picturized in such a grand, spectacular manner..

3) Schindler's List: Managed to watch it at last, after over 10 years of wish.. Living in an area rich of Jewish population, the movie touched me more than it would have, had I seen it last year.

4) Hotel Rwanda: Truly an African version of Schindler's list.. How easily racism can convert man into an animal..

5) Thamizhan: Surprised to see that the seeds of 'Anniyan' were long ago sowed in this one.. and add to it the presently publicized 'Right to Information' (RTI) act.. the director deserved kudos.. except for the romantic aspect and the villain of the movie.

6) Fanaa: Could have been a nice romantic flick but the director messed up with the terrorist angle and the cinematic cliches of the second half.. Beautiful locales and nice songs..

11 comments:

Raju said...

Nag, yeah... I wish too.. From timeless tests, to tests with a rest day to 5 consec days of test, to noballs and wides being added as runs, test matches are continuously evolving.. So, I believe that there must be a way to rightly award a team that dominates so much in a match affected by rain..

Anonymous said...

There is should be some freaky thing like penalty shoot out to definitely get results out of a match. Like get a nominated regular batsman to get the wicket of a nominated regular bowler before he can score 20 run in 5 overs or so.
Yours is a nicely thought out solution though.

Anonymous said...

in the previous comment, the regular batsman bowls while the regular bowler bats (role reversal)

Raju said...

Sanjay, honestly, your suggestion could be tried for one-dayers that are 'tied'.. for test matches, a draw is not yet unfashionable..

mitr_bayarea said...

Raju- In response to the MPS, a good collection of movies. The movie Mitr by Revathy inspired me a lot and hence my blog name.
Its a very realistically made film that was clean to me.

Fanaa- Yet to watch it!

Hotel Rwanda- Another heart touching movie that brough tears to my eyes.

tt_giant said...

bowlers winning test matches: sometimes, by sporting declarations, it becomes a run-chase which win the matches. but yea, it is a rare occurence.

Raju - unga fone number maariducha? if so, can u mail me ur new number to my yagoo?

Raju said...

Mitr, yeah.. I remembered you while watching the movie.. Both Mitr's are from Bay Area.. :-) Geeta also felt that it was very realistic.. except may be the ending, where there was some cinematic twist..
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepak, I agree with you.. Our mediocre test performance post the 2004 Pakistan tour has a lot to do with our bowlers..

I will leave my phone no. in ur blog itself.. I had to change for poor signal strength (cant believe it happening in NYC).

Anonymous said...

Raju,
was wondering if you have left for india? I have your number and will try calling you sometime tommorrow or this evening.

Anonymous said...

saw Mitr a long time back, forgot what it was about, i think wasn't it about the indian wife adjusting to the life in America, and also dealing with her teenage daughter. Troy was great, Eric Bana was the best of all the actors in that movie, Schindler's List, great movie. Haven't seen Hotel Rwanda, and is Vijay the hero of Thamizhan? i think i have seen that movie. I saw Fanaa a couple weeks back, thought it would be great, but as you said, the second half was a snorefest. See any other tamil movies Raju? wanting to see imsai arasan, hope its worth the hype.

Raju said...

Sanjay, over 3 weeks to go for vacation..
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nitin, you are right about Mitr. And, yeah.. Eric Bana was the pick of the heroes..

Havent seen any Tamil movie recently. Thalainagaram, Imsai Arasan and Kokki are in queue...

Anonymous said...

Excellent, love it! » » »