By Bharath Ramaraj
The IPL is about sixes, fours and entertainment. The Royal Challengers Bangalore – Lucknow Super Giants game had several thrills and spills, and the fortunes of both sides oscillated to and fro before Lucknow sealed a nerve-wracking one-wicket win off the last ball of the game.
Bedlam and chaos in the slog
In the 17th over, with Nicholas Pooran still at the crease, it seemed as if LSG would cruise to a famous win. At that juncture, the in-form Pooran flicked a full toss from Mohammed Siraj straight into the hands of Shahbaz Ahmed at deep backward square leg. Ayush Badoni and Jaydev Unadkat then cracked a four each to bring the equation down to just six off eight balls. Just that there was more drama in the middle. Badoni ramped Wayne Parnell over the boundary rope. So it should have been a six, right? Unfortunately for Badoni, he had dragged his bat onto the stumps and was dismissed hit-wicket.
In the last over, Mark Wood looked to have a mighty heave across the line while facing Harshal Patel but could only hear the death rattle. With Lucknow needing a single run, Unadkat followed him back to the hut by lifting one to Faf Du Plessis at long-on. There was yet more bedlam in the middle as Harshal tried to run out Ravi Bishnoi at the non-striker’s end but missed. Subsequently, Harshal threw the ball at the stumps. But the umpire disallowed the appeal on the grounds that Harshal had already completed his action before trying to run out the non-striker.
Just when everyone thought there couldn’t be further drama, Avesh Khan ran a bye on the back of a fumble from Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. After steering his side home, Avesh also threw his helmet on to the ground in excitement. At the other end, Bishnoi also deserved credit as he ran like a jackrabbit to get to the striker’s end.
Pooran bounces back in style
2022 didn’t exactly go Pooran’s way. He had to relinquish his position as West Indies’ limited-overs skipper after they bowed out of the T20 World Cup in the first round. He had a decent season for Sunrisers Hyderabad but the franchise decided against retaining him. Given that backdrop, the Trinidadian gave a fitting riposte to his critics with his stunning 19-ball 62 in the cauldron that was the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He came out to bat with the score reading 99-4. Although Marcus Stoinis had given Lucknow some impetus with a breezy 30-ball 65, they were still 114 runs away from the target. Within the span of a few overs, Pooran had changed the complexion of the game.
In the 13th over, he clubbed Karn Sharma’s googly for a six over deep extra-cover. He also smashed the leg-spinner for a six over the deep-square-leg region. He then took a heavy toll of Harshal, pulling, cutting and whipping him to all corners of the ground. The way he adjusted to pull Harshal in that over showcased his flair. Du Plessis then took the gamble of using Karn for another over, only for Pooran to club a couple more sixes. In the 15th over bowled by Parnell, he completed his fifty off just 15 balls, the fastest of the season so far.
The Stoinis factor
David Willey, Siraj and Parnell found a wee bit of movement upfront as Lucknow were reduced to 23 for 3. At that stage, Stoinis explored every nook and cranny of the ground with slogs, pulls, lofts and flicks to bring his side right back into the game. In the 11th over, Stoinis tried to play one shot too many and holed out to Shahbaz off Karn’s bowling. However, by then, he had provided the platform for the big-hitting Pooran.
The shot of the day?
While facing genuine pace, Virat Kohli seems to have hit a different zone for the time being. At the Chinnaswamy, he was up against Wood, one of the fastest going around, who hits the deck harder than most. But Kohli wasn’t bothered. In the 6th over, Wood bowled a back-of-a-length delivery at just 93mph, but Kohli swatted it over midwicket like a fly. It requires some special skill to hit through the line against a bowler who hits the bat so high up on the splice.
Did Wood make a comeback?
He certainly did. The first three balls he bowled, Wood went for 10 runs. However, RCB collected a mere 22 from his next 21 deliveries. The Ashington Express stuck to his tried-and-tested formula of hitting the deck hard and hitting high up on the splice. In the 16th over, du Plessis did play a sparkling loft over long-off while facing Wood. Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell cracked a pull that went all the way. But those were anomalies. Even when the score read 203-1, Wood bowled hard lengths and kept the Maxwell-du Plessis duo relatively quiet.
LSG bubble bursts in the slog
In the last four overs, Maxwell and du Plessis went on a rampage, adding 66 runs. Two of those overs were bowled by Unadkat and Avesh, who ended up giving away 43 runs. Neither of them could land the yorkers or bowl a hard length, and were duly punished. Meanwhile, the pyrotechnics of Du Plessis and Maxwell piloted RCB past the 200-run mark, which in the end didn’t prove to be enough.