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

"We lost badly today. Even in session-to-session bidding, punters lost huge amounts as they had placed bets on Dhoni-Jadeja partnership which was in top form during the last session," said another punter. India's crash at Old Trafford, finally, pushed Ghaziabad's trading mandi, known for satta, into gloom.

The betting bazaars in Delhi had gone crazy on Tuesday as the police estimated that the bids in the illegal satta (betting) market had crossed the Rs 150-crore mark in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Bets were placed on the margin of victory in terms of runs and wickets and also on whether runs scored by India and New Zealand could be 400-plus or below 400.

An interesting bet was on as to who would take more than three wickets from both camps -- whether it would be spinners or pace bowlers. Also, was it to be Jaspirt Bumrah/Yuzvendra Chahal or New Zealand's Trent Boult or Lockie Ferguson?

The base betting rate of Indian players, for example, in case of Bumrah, it was Rs 20, while for Boult, it was Rs 7, said a source.

The other bets were on star batsmen -- Indian skipper Virat Kohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill -- whether they would score half-century or a century.

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Sanjeev Pal/IANS