It was the event that was supposed to mark a triumphant end to the IAS Week in Lucknow and it did. A “friendly” T20 match was held yesterday, at La Martiniere ground, between UP IAS Officers’ Association XI and Chief Minister’s (CM) XI. Although the IAS XI lost by a single run, it was a defeat that they had to work very hard to achieve.

In front of an audience that included local’s who’s who-s and celebrities like Mandira Bedi, the CM XI faced its opponents. Except it was difficult to tell whether the IAS XI really were playing against CM XI or for them.

The first thing that the CM XI, led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, won was the toss. They chose to bat first and so it began. The deliveries from the IAS XI were slow enough to not need slow motion. Each time a bowler got a CM XI wicket, he looked miserable. Finally, at the end of 20 overs, the CM XI had scored 126 runs. Most of the batsmen failed to score more than 10 runs, but Yadav scored 65, including 11 boundaries and a six. When he finally got out, there was no one sadder than the bowler who got Yadav’s wicket.

When the IAS XI stepped out to chase the CM XI’s total, it initially looked like there might just be a fun match ahead. The team reached 113 in just 15 overs, having lost seven wickets. Thirteen runs, five overs. How long could this take?

Very long if the man facing the IAS XI was the CM himself. Yadav came to bowl the 16^th over and it was, in his own words, the “turning point”. Lo and behold! It was a maiden (in the sense of an over, not a person). Batsman and Information Secretary Navneet Sehgal retired hurt, thus beginning what would prove to be a never-ending chase.

Time slowed down and Einstein’s relativity theory was proved true yet again as the runs and action suddenly dried up. Serving up maidens and struggling to not score runs, the IAS XI made a valiant effort to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. At one point, the IAS XI had two overs to make three runs to equal or four runs to win the match. With herculean effort, the batsmen scored two.

Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan, captain of the IAS XI, said, “We tried really hard and fought well but the bowling improved in the last few overs and the over by the CM was tough one. That’s why the win slipped from between our fingers.” Ranjan also managed to look thoroughly undisappointed by the match result. This is, no doubt, why they call cricket a gentleman’s game.

Yadav was crowned Man of the Match (his fourth consecutive year as MoM) and he thanked his team as well as his opponents. “I appreciate the help we got from them and I hope we keep getting their support like this in the future,” he said. Howzzat for transparency?