Three misfields in a single over during the KKR vs SRH match at Eden Gardens have sent Twitter into a frenzy tonight, with match fixing trending alongside SRH and KKR as fans react to what they are calling suspicious fielding from Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ninth over of KKR’s chase. The over in question was bowled by left-arm wrist spinner Shivang Kumar, who watched three separate fielding errors gift KKR 11 runs they might not otherwise have scored, and who was visibly unhappy on the field while Ishan Kishan behind the stumps was reportedly not happy one bit.
Here is exactly what happened in that over, ball by ball.
The Over That Started the Controversy — Shivang Kumar’s 9th Over
Ball 8.1: Shivang Kumar to Rinku Singh, 1 run. A googly following a backing-away batter. Rinku chops it to point. Normal delivery, nothing unusual.
Ball 8.2: Shivang Kumar to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, FOUR. Width on offer, Raghuvanshi cuts hard through backward point off the back foot. Harsh Dubey over-runs to his left in the deep and makes a mess of it. First misfield. Ishan Kishan visibly unhappy. 4 runs gifted.
Ball 8.3: Shivang Kumar to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, DRS. An appeal for caught behind turned down, SRH review. Googly from Shivang, Angkrish goes back to cut and misses. Ishan Kishan decides to review. Review lost. No run.
Ball 8.4: Shivang Kumar to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 3 runs. Another misfield. Length ball around off, Raghuvanshi pushes at it and outside-halves it to the right of David Payne at short third man. Payne slips and lets the ball go through for 3. Second misfield.
Ball 8.5: Shivang Kumar to Rinku Singh, FOUR. Third misfield in the over. Full delivery, Rinku chips it over extra cover. NKR over-runs to his left and slips as he tries to recover. The fielder wears a smile but Shivang Kumar is rightly unhappy according to the commentary. 4 more runs gifted.
Ball 8.6: Shivang Kumar to Rinku Singh, no run. Quicker, shorter and flatter, punched to extra cover. Over ends.
From those six deliveries, KKR scored 12 runs where the bowling and fielding combination might have conceded 5 or fewer. The three misfields on balls 8.2, 8.4, and 8.5 collectively gifted KKR approximately 7 extra runs at a critical phase of the chase.
The Twitter Reaction
The three misfields triggered an immediate and intense social media reaction that escalated quickly from frustration to conspiracy. Posts calling the incident match fixing began trending within minutes of the over completing.
One verified cricket account posted: “3 successful misfields in single over including 2 fours and 3 runs. BCCI needs to investigate this.”
Another user wrote: “Ishan Kishan is not aware of match fixing. Too much missfield.”
Others joined with comments about the franchise, Pakistan associations, and demands for BCCI investigation.
The Reality
Misfields happen in T20 cricket. They happen at the highest level, in the most high-stakes matches, to the best fielding sides in the world. Three misfields in a single over is unusual and deeply frustrating for a bowler like Shivang Kumar who was trying hard. The commentary specifically noted that Shivang was rightly unhappy and that Ishan Kishan was not happy one bit, which are not the reactions of players who want their fielders to drop catches and miss stops.
What the over shows is SRH having a genuinely terrible fielding over under pressure at Eden Gardens at night with a large crowd creating noise and tension. The slips described, Dubey over-running to his left, Payne slipping on the surface at short third man, NKR over-running and going down trying to recover, all describe fielders who are trying to make stops and failing through mishap rather than standing still and letting the ball through.
The match fixing trending label applied to this incident is the kind of reflexive social media reaction that every misfield, dropped catch, and bowling change generates when it benefits the batting side. It is not evidence of any wrongdoing.
As of the time of writing KKR are 104 for 3 after 9.3 overs chasing 227, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi batting brilliantly on 51 not out. The match is very much alive. SRH’s fielding in that over has made KKR’s chase considerably more achievable.
That is bad fielding. Not fixing.