Middle order was easy pickings for him..

After Sachin departed, the rest of the batsmen were easy pickings for the ferocious Wasim Akram

His better spoken English skills put him at a great advantage vis-a-vis his classmates and the best job offers were easy pickings for him.

You’d have guessed, the target phrase is easy pickings.

Think of easy pickings as a case when getting something is as easy as just bending down and picking it. Only, sometimes it would talk of things which are not literally picked up from the ground. Thus, centuries for Sachin in his prime were easy pickings. Similarly, superhits for Amitabh were easy pickings.

When acquiring something becomes as easy as child’s play to you, you’d say it’s easy pickings.

Let’s take some examples:

1. The Bangladeshi batsmen were no match for the fierce pace and bounce of Sreesanth and after the openers departed, remaning wickets were easy pickings.
2. The pickpockets find easy pickings at the Kumbh Mela with such huge crowds.
3. Major land deals were easy pickings for the company throughout the state because of its proximity with the ruling party.
4. Politicians deliberately excite passions in the name of religion and once the feelings are sufficiently aroused, votes become easy pickings for them. As long as this formula works, why would your MLA work? He would do what gets him votes and if dividing people does that, so be it.

Use this phrase to describe things which can be easily had by someone in a particular situation.

Some more examples:

1. Good grades were easy pickings for Suresh because he had always been a good student with great work ethic and amazing analytic skills.
2. He became a policeman and then petty pickpockets, small time crooks and local goons were easy pickings for him.
3. When the tiger got injured, he found it difficult to run. Even the young ones of deer and buffaloes were no longer easy pickings. He was afraid he would die of hunger when his friend, the fox came up with an idea.