Kohli brigade's big loss bleeds punters by over Rs 100 cr

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Satta market in Delhi NCR virtually bled as hot favourites India suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the World cup semifinals on Wednesday. Sources said a large numbers of punters lost over Rs 100 crore as dark horse Kiwis finally registered a big win.

This was on a day when the Kiwis' under-average performance totalling 239 runs(in 50 overs match) had very few takers in the betting bazar. For the much-hyped semifinal challenge, the rate for favourite India was Rs 4.35 while for NZ, it was Rs 49! That meant, as per book-making, New Zealand was a loser, almost. 

Surprisingly, in the session-to-session online bet placing, the punters, in the final stages of the match had favoured India (when the score was 200/6 and Dhoni & Jadeja were on the crease). But a big disappointment waited for them: New Zealand bounced back in the last two overs. Dhoni's run out at the fag end of the game came as a heartbreaker for punters, as all their money went down the drain, leaving the bookies with the booty. Those who placed their bets on NZ also had a feel of winning a lottery.

"The satta bazaar yo-yoed in initial three overs when a much confident Team India's top three batsman -- R. Sharma, K.L. Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli -- lost their wickets and went back to the pavilion in just 5 runs. "Our hope was high yesterday, but today it turned into the biggest nightmare of this World Cup with the miserable defeat of India," Rajveer Singh (not his real name), Gurugram's Sadar Bazaar-based punter, told IANS.

"Besides Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Delhi, where thousands of big punters had reserved suites and rooms in five star hotels for organising late night parties, had to cancel their parties/get-togethers after they suffered huge losses as India went down fighting in the 48th over," Rajveer Singh said, adding that he lost over Rs 10 crore that he had gained from previous matches.

For others as well, it was a party that was not to be. "I was very happy when I saw top four Indian batsman losing their wickets before 10 overs and, even the Indian bowlers were not in form -- all because I had placed my bids on New Zealand. I took maximum risk and it perfectly turned out to be a lottery," revealed Siddharth Mishra (not his real name), a Delhi-based bidder.

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