Royal Challengers Bangalore

If ever there was an award for the worst IPL team performance, the Deccan Chargers would have won it hands down. 82 is all they got in the third place play-off against the upbeat Royal Challengers Bangalore at the D.Y. Patil stadium. Okay, this wasn’t the best surface for the batsmen – both the pacers and spinners extracted enough from the pitch to trouble Deccan’s batsmen.

The figures of Praveen Kumar (2/18) and Anil Kumble (4/16) amply reflected this. Still, this was by no stretch of the imagination an 82 all-out pitch, as proved by Anirudh Singh’s fluent 40. Bangalore too had their moments of trouble during the chase, with the ball stopping on the pitch regularly.

What went in their favour though was that they were completely devoid of pressure, owing to the partly total they were after and, in the end, they cruised home by 9 wickets.

Clearly, it was their accurate bowling performance combined with some unreasonable batting by the opposition that won it for Bangalore. Deccan lost their first five batsmen with a mere 35 on the board, and after a steady partnership of 43 between Anirudh Singh and Venugopal Rao, gifted their last five wickets for the addition of just four runs.

Yes, you heard it right. So swift was the collapse that even the Royal Challengers looked rather embarrassed at having done so exceedingly well.

When a team performs so miserably, it is but natural for them to be criticised. And, there will be plenty of it for Deccan for the manner in which they capitulated with the bat. It all went wrong for Adam Gilchrist and co right from the time they won the toss and elected to bat.

The skipper’s miseries in the tournament continued as he failed for one final time – this time a full toss from opposition skipper Kumble found its way into the lone fielder in the deep. While Gilchrist can be considered a tad unlucky, the shot selection from a few others was far from sane.

Monish Mishra was trapped in front for a duck trying to play across the line while Rohit Sharma gave some easy catching practice to mid-on, also without opening his account. The most disappointing of strokes came from the blade of Andrew Symonds.

He had just been dropped in the previous over by Dale Steyn, but instead of making Bangalore pay, he fell to the South African in the very next over, driving a ball that was too close to his body.

The only phase during which Deccan looked in some semblance of control was when Anirudh and Rao combined to add a few important runs. Both had their moments, hitting one six each of the spinners. However, once Jacques Kallis pegged back Anirudh’s off-stump, things took a drastic turn as Kumble joined Kallis in finishing off the innings in a flash.

A word of praise has to be reserved for left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi, who beat the batsmen in the air more than once and ended with impressive figures (1/17).

There really wasn’t much to do when the Challengers went into bat. Still, Rahul Dravid and Kevin Pietersen batted with authority to take their side home after losing Kallis for 19.

Dravid’s five fluently-timed boundaries and Pietersen’s two sixes were enough to kill Deccan’s hopes, if at all they had any. Overall, an utterly disappointing contest. But, for those seeking solace, be grateful this wasn’t the final.

On a pitch where there was plenty of assistance for the faster men, the Chennai Super Kings outsmarted the Deccan Chargers at the D Y Patil Stadium to book their place in the finals against the Mumbai Indians. Under normal circumstances, 142 would not be a match-winning score, but on this surface, it was worth a lot more.

That said, it would be unfair to take anything away from Chennai’s bowlers, especially R Ashwin and Doug Bollinger, who kept things ridiculously tight in the first six overs, not allowing the opposition to score even at the pace of a run-a-ball. The fact that they managed to pick up wickets at will made the task doubly difficult for Deccan, who never recovered from the clumsy start and succumbed to a 38-run loss.

Earlier, Deccan were also effective with ball and, at one stage, had managed to reduce Chennai to 96 for 5 in the 15th over. Death bowling, however, proved to be Deccan’s Achilles Heel yet again as they allowed Chennai to recover to 142 for 7.

Despite the late surge by Chennai, Deccan would still have fancied their chances to chase down the target. However, their batsmen couldn’t stand up against a charged up opposition, who were going for the kill right from ball one. Dhoni opened with the trustworthy duo of Ashwin and Bollinger and the spin-pace combo did wonders for Chennai.

While the leg spinner tied up both Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibss, Bollinger troubled the openers with his seaming deliveries. In between, he mixed things up with yorkers and well-directed slower balls, and was handsomely rewarded for it. After struggling for his 20-ball 15, the Deccan skipper fell to the left-arm quickie while trying to flick a good length delivery.

In the very same over, T Suman came in and blasted a four before being sent back, going for his second big hit. At 23 for 2 in the 6th over, Gilchrist’s men were off to an unimaginably poor start. Things were only to get worse though.

With the run-rate creeping up with each passing over, Rohit Sharma lofted Albie Morkel straight into the hands of Muralitharan at long-on for 4, while Gibbs (18 from 26 balls) was put out of his misery by Shabad Jakati, when his attempted cut missed the bat and crashed into the stumps.

At 48 for 4 in the 11th over, a miracle from Andrew Symonds was the only hope for Deccan, albeit a faint one. That too evaporated when he fell to Ashwin for 23. Bollinger returned to claim two more wickets and end with sensational figures of 4 for 13, which told quite a story.

It was a far from happy tale earlier in the day, however, after MS Dhoni won the toss and took first strike. Symonds, who opened the bowling along with Ryan Harris, made full use of the bowler-friendly conditions to have Chennai on the mat.

Harris, in particular, was lethal claiming both Matthew Hayden and Murali Vijay, the former after he was dropped twice. All the bowlers, except an erratic RP Singh, chipped in to keep Chennai under the pump.

S Badrinath and skipper Dhoni did feature in a steady half-century partnership. But, that did not hurt Deccan much though. What did hurt was the fact that S Anirudha smashed 24 from 15 balls to help his side cross 140.

The bowlers did the rest for Chennai. As far as Deccan were concerned, it wasn’t just destined to be their day. Two simplest of catches dropped at the start of the game was the earliest omen.

A chase of 146 shouldn’t have proved all difficult for the Delhi Daredevils even on the slow turner at the Ferozshah Kotla. After all, the home side possessed one of the most potent batting line-ups in the tournament. However, a sense of complacency and some extremely charged-up bowling by the Deccan Chargers led to their downfall as the visiting side advanced to the semi-finals.

Delhi lost their top four with only 39 on the board. And the rut never stopped. There was an unexpected fight towards the end when Ashish Nehra joined Paul Collingwood to feature in an undefeated eighth wicket stand of 48. Deccan still got home by a comfortable margin of 11 runs.

Looking back at the game, it was one knock which stood out as the difference between the two sides. Like Deccan, Delhi too had got off to a promising start with the ball. At one stage, the batting side were struggling at 66 for 4 after Adam Gilchrist won the toss and decided to take first strike.

Delhi were comfortably on top when Andrew Symonds decided to take charge. He lofted the ball with consummate ease against the slower bowlers and, in the process, helped Deccan gain some momentum. Amit Mishra, Paul Collingwood as well as Tillakaratne Dilshan were slammed for sixes.

He hit five in all en route to a scintillating 34-ball 54. During this phase, he was well supported by rookie Mitchell Marsh. The youngster’s contribution of 13 from 19 balls may look ungainly in the scorecard. But, in the context of the game, it was precious. His most significant contribution was handing the strike over to Symonds, which was the need of the hour for Deccan.

Once Symonds fell though Delhi got themselves back on track. The bowlers conceded less than a run-a-ball in the last five overs to restrict Deccan’s mini-resurrection. Like at the end, the home side were sensational with the ball in the early part of the innings too.

The out of sorts Gilchrist was once again consumed early by Ashish Nehra while Umesh Yadav’s extreme pace did the trick for him. The bowler’s speed was too much to handle even for the in-form T Suman and Rohit Sharma, the former had his stumps shattered while the latter edged one behind the wickets.

At the halfway stage, Delhi would have fancied their chances to booking their semis berth. But, they only have themselves to blame for letting a golden opportunity pass by. Virender Sehwag was given a reprieve very early in the innings when Rohit Sharma spilled a tough chance off Chaminda Vaas’ bowling.

The same combination though combined to end Sehwag’s short stay at the crease not much later. Disappointingly, David Warner and Dilshan fell to rash strokes. The left-hander flirted outside the off-stump while the Sri Lankan went for a predetermined lap sweep, which saw him being trapped in front off Harmeet Singh’s bowling.

Coming in at 25 for 3, there was extreme pressure on the skipper. But, this time even Gautam Gambhir couldn’t bail the side out. With the pressure mounting, Mithun Manhas was run-out for 23 following a mix-up with Collingwood. Clearly, Delhi had underestimated Deccan’s bowling prowess. And by the time they realized this, it was too late. Collingwood did smash a few big ones towards the end, as did Nehra. But, after the initial disaster, they were always fighting a losing battle.

A scintillating, unbeaten 93 by Mahela Jayawardene was overpowered by an equally brilliant 68 not out by Rohit Sharma as the Deccan Chargers chased down a tough target of 175 set by the Kings XI Punjab at the scenic setting in Dharmasala. Rohit and T Suman joined forces after their team got off to a rapid start, at 54 for 2 in seventh over.

And, by the time, Piyush Chawla managed to have Suman caught behind for 43 (from 31 balls), the score had progressed to 120 in the 14th over. There were some anxious moments for Deccan after Suman’s dismissal. But, Rohit batted with great maturity to see his side through.

The beauty of the partnership between Suman and Rohit was that they attacked from the word go and never let the bowlers get on top of them. Both batted with supreme confidence, which came courtesy their successes in the recent games. They were especially severe on the seamers, lofting them with ease.

Neither among Vikramjeet Malik, Irfan Pathan or Shalabh Srivastava could make any kind of an impression. Pathan did strike early, getting the big scalp of the struggling opposition skipper Adam Gilchrist. Unfortunately for Punjab, he was the man to let Deccan off the hook when things got tight towards the end. Rohit took a liking to him, driving him with ease on the off-side and plucking twos and also lofting him for a magnificent six to level the score.

Suman, on the other hand, struck to his tried and tested formula of his inside out strokes and succeeded yet again. In all, he hit three fours and three sixes, supporting Deccan perfectly as they went about approaching the target in an aggressive manner. Kumar Sangakkara tried to distract the duo by constantly chopping and changing the bowling. But, it did not work as both the batsmen looked well-settled at the crease.

Eventually, it needed one from Chawla that turned away to end Suman’s resistance. Soon, Juan Theron cleaned up Andrew Symonds for 4 with one that kept low. But, Sharma ensured that there were no more hiccups. A couple of lusty blows by 18-year-old Mitchell Marsh helped as they registered a five-wicket win and kept their hopes of progressing to the semis very much alive.

Sharma’s genius undid some splendid work by Jayawardene earlier in the day. The former Sri Lankan skipper was in his elements once again after Gilchrist won the toss and inserted the opposition in. Punjab got off to the worst possible start as Shaun Marsh edged a superb outswinger from Ryan Harris first ball. However, that only brought a fired up Sangakkara to the crease.

Taking on RP Singh and Marsh, Sangakkara got Punjab into a position of strength. He did not slog but struck to his natural game, timing the ball to perfection. Thanks to his blistering half-century, Punjab raced to 87 in the 12th over, before indiscretion got the better of him, a predetermined reverse sweep was lapped up by Pragyan Ojha.

Following the skipper’s dismissal, Jayawardene’s bat fell silent and Yuvraj Singh’s lack of form did not help either. But, once Jayawardene broke the shackles dispatching Marsh to the fence, there was no looking back. He punched five consecutive fours off RP Singh to lift Punjab to 174 for 3. At the break, it seemed a competitive score. And, but for Rohit’s blaze, it could have been a match-winning one.

Deccan Chargers recovered sensationally after being in the doldrums at 14 for 3, the result of Dale Steyn’s magical opening burst, to stun Bangalore Royal Challengers by 13 runs. After Rohit Sharma and Monish Mishra combined to help Deccan reach a somewhat respectable total of 151, the bowlers fashioned a dramatic reversal at Nagpur.

Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis had taken Bangalore to 74 with ease after the loss of an early wicket. At that stage, the game seemed headed for a one-sided finish. But, once Dravid was dismissed by Andrew Symonds, caught in the deep one short of his half-century, things turned dramatically.

As wickets fell, it was only Robin Uthappa who kept his team in the hunt. But, after having played batman for so many games this season, he was bound to end up on the losing side someday. Painfully, it was this day.

Even as Bangalore faltered, no praise can be too high for Deccan’s bowlers. Right from the start, they were focussed. Ryan Harris, in an endeavour to bowl fast, ran in hard and was rewarded with his first ball itself. Manish Pandey was too late on an outswinger and only managed to edge it to a thrilled Adam Gilchrist.

And, while Dravid and Kallis batted like true veterans reading the game perfectly, Deccan did well to ensure that neither blazed away. Dravid was the more aggressive of the two, with some fluent strikes all round the wicket. His 49 was punctuated with eight boundaries, but his dismissal punctured what was until then a fluent chase.

Following Dravid’s departure, Kallis needed to take on the responsibility of guiding the team home. But, while he managed to reclaim the orange cap from Sachin Tendulkar, he wasn’t able to translate his start into a match-winning knock. He was deceived in the air by Pragyan Ojha and returned with 27 to his name.

Still, at 95 for 3, Bangalore remained favourites, but some splendid bowling from the unpredictable R P Singh turned the tide. Ross Taylor was castled by a yorker and Cameron White holed out. At the other end, Ojha got rid of Virat Kolhi and the chase had lost steam. Uthappa struck two magnificent sixes off Ryan Harris’ bowling, but Harmeet Singh got him for 34 with a well-directed straight delivery. That clinched it for Deccan.

No one would have given the ‘home’ side a chance after the disastrous start they were off to. Steyn ran in as fast as he could and knocked over the top three in no time. Adam Gilchrist was done in by one that left him, but not before taking the edge, T. Suman could not handle his short snorter while Herschelle Gibbs had no answer to his country-mate’s outswinger that beat him all ends up and crashed into the stumps.

In the third over, Deccan were gasping for breath at 14 for 3 and Anil Kumble’s decision to bowl first was justified. Steyn could have had another victim in his kitty, but for an edge falling short of slip. It was just the stroke of luck Deccan needed.

Mishra and Rohit Sharma took up the mantle of rebuilding with a sense of responsibility. The former played the aggressor between rotating the strike while Sharma timed the ball sweetly, just as he has being doing in his recent outings. The two took the score close to 100. And, with some help from Symonds and Harris, they managed to cross 150, enough for their charged up bowlers.

Ambati Rayudu’s sensational, unbeaten 55 off a mere 29 balls and Saurabh Tiwary’s rebuilding effort of 44 from 35 balls were responsible for Mumbai Indians recovering from a mid-innings collapse and posting 178 for 5 in their game against the struggling Deccan Chargers at the Brabourne Stadium.

The total was too good for Deccan, who were never in the hunt during the chase. The entire team succumbed to 115 all out before the stipulated overs and lost by an embarrassing 63-run margin.

Despite a professional performance by the Mumbai bowlers, it has to be said that the turning point of the match was the partnership between Rayudu and Tiwary. The duo added an impressive 65 in 7.4 overs at a stage when Mumbai where crumbling after a confident start.

The home team were cruising at 53 for no loss in the seventh over when things turned murky. Pragyan Ojha had Shikhar Dhawan stumped for 14 and in his next over cleaned up the dangerous Dwayne Bravo for 2. At the other end, Rahul Sharma claimed the ever so crucial scalp of Sachin Tendukar, who was well-set on 35.

Things could have gone horribly wrong for Mumbai had Rayudu and Tiwary not held things together. Mumbai were well-aided but Deccan’s fielders and some rather poor bowling in the death overs. Tiwary was lucky to survive on more than one occasion even as the bowlers went for over 12 an over in the last five overs of the innings.

Batting sensibly, Rayudu and Tiwary were initially prepared to get themselves in, at the same time ensuring that the run-rate did not come down drastically. And, once they were in, there was no stopping them. Rahul could have had Tiwary in his return spell, instead Herschelle Gibbs deflected it over the long-on boundary.

The fact that Deccan’s best fielder came up with that effort symbolized the agony of the Chargers. As if that wasn’t enough, Monish Mishra couldn’t latch on to a low offering from the same batsman. This was after the bowler had already been lofted for a maximum.

At the other end, Rayudu had better control. He slogged Andrew Symonds for a mighty off the last ball of the 16th overs. And, things only got worse for Deccan. Ojha did manage to pick up his third wicket by ending Tiwary’s important knock, but Rayudu continued his merry ways.

Jaskaran Singh was taken for 20 off the penultimate over, which featured two dismissive fours and a beautifully lofted, inside-out six. Kieron Pollard also threw his bat around a gathered three boundaries as Mumbai ended their innings on a high.

There was nothing noteworthy to talk about in Deccan’s chase. Gibbs hit a couple of boundaries off Harbhajan Singh and Adam Gilchrist lashed Lasith Malinga for a six. That was about it though. Gibbs, Gilchrist and VVS Laxman all few before the side crossed 40. Symonds, with 21, ended up being highest score, too low even in the shortest format of the game.

Only Sourav Ganguly can do it. He may have retired from international cricket, but continues to invite wrath from all over, only to silence the murmurs in one go. Prior to the crucial game against Deccan Chargers, there were calls for Ganguly to go down the order and allow big hitters to bat at the top.

And these were fair observations, as Ganguly had been sluggish throughout the series bar a 50, thereby allowing the opposition to get on top of Kolkata ever so often. But, Ganguly being Ganguly preferred playing the bad boy and, like so many times before, made it work and paved the way for his side’s much sought-after 24-run win.

The former Indian skipper slammed a memorable 88, rolling back the years at his home ground Eden Gardens to set up a challenging target of 182 for Deccan Chargers, with some good assistance from David Hussey. All the bowlers then chipped in and ensured that Deccan were always behind in the race despite a whirlwind start.

Herschelle Gibbs was the only one who kept Deccan’s hope alive with a half-century. But, on a pitch that was getting slower by the second, Kolkata bowled smartly and even a defiant 45 by Andrew Symonds could not save the defending champions from plummeting into further trouble.

Forget the rest, even Kolkata’s win. This was Ganguly’s game. Yet again, things weren’t easy for the beleaguered skipper and his men. Batting first, Kolkata were struggling at 68 for 3 after Chris Gayle and Cheteshwar Pujara fell early, the former failing to read an off-cutter from Symonds while the latter was also done in by the same bowler’s gentle medium pace.

A lot depended on Manoj Tiwary, but a disappointing shot against Pragyan Ojha put an end to his tale. The only positive to emerge from the disastrous start was Ganguly was finding his feet at other end.

He was in his elements from ball one, flicking it off his hips for a boundary. And, there was no looking back. He cut with confidence and was in his own when he lofted Kemar Roach for a maximum to long on. The timing was back and so were the gaps. All he needed now was support from the other end. That arrived in the form of Hussey.

Looking to resurrect the innings, Hussey collected a number ofn risk-free singles at the start of his innings, instead of trying to match Ganguly’s serene strokeplay. The duo gathered 78 in 7.3 overs, with some help from the opposition skipper as well, Gilchrist missing a Ganguly stumping when on 67 — another indication that this was Ganguly’s day.

Kolkata celebrated it by amassing 65 runs from the final five overs. Hussey got into the act with a couple of mighty sixes.

Chasing 182, Deccan were more than breezy in their start, aided by debutante offspinner Mohnish Parmar, who was asked to open the bowling. The first three overs went for plenty before Ajit Agarkar, who was also punched for a couple of boundaries, struck the telling blow by getting Gilchrist to mistime one.

Gibbs continued to flourish at the other end, with his typically wristy strokeplay. However, some tight bowling from Kolkata meant the run-rate was pegged back and once Shane Bond returned to end Gibbs’ stay, only the formalities remained.

Harbhajan Singh has always been a capable bat, but he hasn’t done well enough to be categorized as an all-rounder. Against Deccan Chargers though, he came up with a truly all-round effort to lead Mumbai Indians to yet another victory.

First, it was his blistering knock of 49 not out from a mere 18 balls that saw Mumbai garner as many as 52 runs in the last three overs. The late onslaught meant they ended on an impressive 172 after struggling at 119 for 7 following Sachin Tendulkar’s crucial dismissal.

Buoyed by his awesome effort with the bat, Harbhajan, who was asked to open the bowling by Sachin, the removed Adam Gilchrist in the very first over. It was a methodical execution as Harbhajan Singh went round the wicket and denied any width to Gilchrist, who tried to cut one, but the sharp edge found an agile Sachin in the slips.

The celebrations to follow said it all. Harbhajan added the wickets of T Suman and Jaskaran Singh too later in the day to end with match-winning figures of 3 for 31. But, surely this time it was his batting effort which made the bigger difference and saw Mumbai romp home by 41 runs.

After being put into bat by Gilchrist, Mumbai made a steady start, but failed to maintain the momentum. Shikhar Dhawan was trapped in front of the stumps for 8 by a brilliant Jaskaran yorker. And, Deccan thereafter ensured that they had Mumbai on the mat, despite Sachin’ presence at one end. R P Singh was especially lethal, sending back Dwayne Bravo and Saurabh Tiwary in the same over. At 68 for 3, Sachin needed a dependable partner.

Unfortunately, all he could do was helplessly wait and watch as one batsman after the other ditched him. Young Ambati Rayadu went for a senseless slog against left-arm Pragyan Ojha and was stranded mid-way down the pitch. R Satish did not do any better, also falling prey to Ojha.

At this stage, Mumbai needed Kieron Pollard to show why he is ‘worth’ so much. Instead, he top-edged a short one from Jaskaran to leave Mumbai in further strife.

All this while, Sachin continued to find the gaps and the boundaries at will, without taking any risks at all. It was yet another illustration that there is place for sane play even in 20-20. With nine wonderfully timed boundaries, Sachin raised his fourth 50 in the IPL.

The pressure of accelerating the scoring though got to his and RP Singh had his third scalp. When Sachin departed, Deccan’s morale was sky-high. But, not for long as Harbhajan’s blitz grounded them.

The late momentum gained saw Mumbai take the field with renewed vigour. And the results were instantly visible. Gilchrist’s loss did not help Deccan’s cause, but they still had a batting line-up good enough to overhaul the total. It wasn’t too be though.

Herschelle Gibbs’ brief flurry of 27 from 16, which comprised two typically wristy sixes, gave them hope. But, once he was dismissed off a high full toss from Zaheer Khan, the innings crumbed. Rohit Sharma held things together for a while. However, for the second game running, it wasn’t enough. They needed someone to do a Harbhajan. But, the man was in the opposition.

If ever Rajasthan Royals wanted to assure themselves that they are still good enough to compete against the best despite the loss of their big guns, they only need to look at their performance today against defending champions Deccan Chargers.

Stating the game as perceptible underdogs, they ended up hammering the Chargers by eight wickets and made it a hat-trick of victories after the three setbacks at the beginning of the tournament. The stand out aspect of Rajasthan’s performance was the thoughtful manner in which they went about their task.

Things weren’t going to be easy once they lost the toss and were faced with the prospect of having to deal with a rampaging Adam Gilchrist. However, Shane Warne’s men stood up to the task on this day. The captain himself had some shrewd tactics up his sleeve, most of which worked wonderfully well for his side.

He opened the bowling with Sumit Narval, who responded with the massive wicket of Gilchrist in the very first over, the Deccan skipper wanted to make a statement at the outset, but only managed to lob one straight up in the air.

Following the poor start, Deccan were in desperate need of some runs from their experienced men, VVS Laxman and Herschelle Gibbs. The latter looked dangerous for a while, taking on Abhishek Jhunjunwala in one over and despatching him all over the park. But, if Warne’s one weapon had failed, it only forced him to dish out the next one in his armoury, a more lethal one named Shaun Tait.

Usually erratic, Tait was in his elements for a change, in sync with Warne’s script. Laxman failed to time a short ball and was sent back for 10. The skipper himself played a significant role with the ball. Rolling back the years, he forced a well-settled Gibbs to drag his feet to a ball that pitched on middle and left him, totally deceiving him in the air, and had him stumped. The Warne magic might be waning, but against the Proteas, he still seems quite a handful.

Gibbs went for 25, leaving the Chargers struggling at 58 for 3. Pretty soon all the hopes of a recovery died a volcanic death. Andrew Symonds (22) came up with a couple of delectable drives before running himself out, going for a non-existent run.

The ball had left the fielder’s (Jhunjhunwhala) hand when a hesitant Symonds went for the inexplicable. More hesitations followed which resulted in a couple more batsmen being stranded. Rohit Sharma was the common factor in all the dismissals, though he wasn’t the culprit on each occasion.

To his credit, at least he tried to bat sensibly and ended up as the innings’ top-scorer with 49. However, a total of 148 was never going to be enough unless Deccan had something exceptional up their sleeve.

On the contrary, Micheal Lumb and Yusuf Pathan provided the extraordinary stuff as Rajasthan cruised home. Lumb hit a hapless RP Singh cruelly for four consecutive fours. And after he was unfortunately run-out for 45, Pathan ensured that the dismissal was forgotten in a flash.

With eight mighty sixes, most of them off the spinners, he ended up unbeaten on 73 from 34 balls. The underdogs had done it again.