Gayle keeps Sambit in the lead
Kolkata's openers compete to give our celebrities crucial fantasy points. Sambit Bal stays in the lead and David Lloyd jumps to second place
Cricinfo staff
22-Apr-2009
A gamble to pick Chris Gayle as trump paid off for Cricinfo's editor • AFP
Chris Gayle has done it for Sambit Bal, who consolidates his position as No. 1. He now has a lead of 104 points over David Lloyd, who has jumped into second place with 1022 points. But crucial tactical errors could come back to haunt David, who now has just three transfers left.
"Although I am in second place, I have made a few errors," David said. "I've changed players too many times and I have just three transfers left. But with the Ashes coming up I have to get ahead of Ian Chappell or I won't hear the last of it. It's my first IPL season, hopefully I will get better next time around."
With the game between the Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals called off due to rain, the only points that could have been made on Tuesday were from the first game, between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Kings XI Punjab. While Ian and Sanjay Manjrekar chose to go with Brendon McCullum as their trump, Sambit chose Gayle in what proved to be a master-stroke. A whopping 274 points from Gayle, as compared to 130 from McCullum, propelled Sambit into the lead.
Sambit has three players who will feature in today's game between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Deccan Chargers. And with Jesse Ryder as trump, more fireworks (and big points) could be in store.