In the IPL this year, 37 needed off two overs isn’t an insurmountable task. Grounds are not big enough, pitches are flat, and bowlers at the death often at their wit’s end. So when Rashid Khan started to get his helicopter into action with Sai Kishore chipping in, the inexperienced Rasikh Salam was up against it. It took a special flying stop from Tristan Stubbs, preventing a certain six over long-on, keeping it to a single, that proved decisive in the final analysis. Sai got out after a couple of sixes and Rashid hit two fours and a six in the final over bowled by Mukesh Kumar, bringing the requirement to five off one ball. But this time, the Afghan maverick fell short.
Rashid Khan almost pulled off another impossible finish with the bat 💥@DelhiCapitals hold their nerves and clinch a crucial win 👏👏
Recap the match on @StarSportsIndia and @JioCinema 💻📱#TATAIPL | #DCvGT pic.twitter.com/xTvwwK23Gv
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2024
Catching Titan
The mistimed pull from Prithvi Shaw was dipping furiously into the grass. Noor Ahmed, the fielder at deep backward square leg, seemed a trifle slow to react. But just before the ball brushed the dewy grass, Noor’s fingers of the right palms (his weaker hand) cushioned it. Impeccable was his technique, he slid on his knees, his body fully behind the ball, and the head unshaken, all with a minimal follow through. He did not lunge fully forward, which would not have given him the control. The thudding of the elbows on the ground could have resulted in the ball bobbling out of his hands. Equally poised was when he got under the skier of Jake Fraser-McGurk. The ball seemed lost in the skies, the boundary rope was nearby, the noise from the home crowd would have been ear-splitting. But the 19-year-old mystery spinner from Herat kept his head and caught the ball with the reverse-cup technique.
Poverty at the top
Axar Patel and Shai Hope are not players expected to take down a bowling attack on a regular basis. That they found themselves together in the middle of the Powerplay showed the paucity of hitting talent for Delhi Capitals, in the absence of David Warner, who has not lit up the IPL till now. Prithvi Shaw and the new blockbuster talent Jake Fraser-McGurk showed positive intent at the start, but that approach is not without risk. Once they fell on the sword, followed by Hope, it was a familiar story for Capitals as they finished the Powerplay at 44/3 after being 34 for no loss after three overs. They had gone with Abishek Porel at No.3 for a few matches, but the youngster was pushed down the batting order in this game as the run rate floundered. It showed a lack of clarity and confidence in a struggling campaign.
Pant’s cut, a Wild West beat
All you would notice is that violent yet elastic swirl of the wrists. In the next brush of reality, you realise the ball has crashed onto the fence-cushions. Unless you have really quick eyes, you fail to notice the blurry bat-speed of Rishabh Pant when he cuts as well as the eye-twitchy speed of the ball burning the grass fence-ward. The Pant cut is a stroke of malevolent beauty. He doesn’t really hang back, but rather arches his body, gets his back-foot slightly across and thunderbolts the shot. It’s a real mean, bad shot, in its fury reminiscent of the Caribbean cutters of the past. It’s more than a cut really, a slash from an axe, a shot from an antique double barrel gun from Wild West movies. You could feel an imaginary beat of Ennio Morricone Western Spaghetti score in the background, or a cowboy cap for a helmet. It’s also a stroke that conveys the mood of Pant, when he starts middling those cuts, it’s a clear sign of an impending onslaught.
Rashid steady, not spectacular
Figures of 0/35 won’t be considered too bad, judging by the way bowlers have been generally treated in this IPL. But when your name is Rashid Khan, you have higher standards to live up to. Bowling to two left-handers in Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel may not have been the most favourable match-up for the Afghan leg-spinner, but that has rarely mattered for one of the most consistent performers in franchise cricket. Each one of his four overs contained at least one boundary, but even then, the second half of his spell was a bit of a comeback. After conceding 22 in his first two overs, the next two went for only 13. After a six and two fours in his first 12 balls, his last 12 conceded just two fours, one of them to end his spell. Axar was the more aggressive of the two left-handers against Rashid, as all but one four he was hit for came off his blade.
At fault in the field
In this IPL, when a ball goes in the air with a fielder somewhere under it, there is no certainty that the chance would be pouched. The first innings saw one outstanding and a couple of decent grabs, which in hindsight couldn’t be taken for granted. Axar Patel, who is known to be a safe fielder, had caught Shubman Gill on the edge of the circle at mid-on, but shelled a much easier chance Sai Sudharsan offered soon afterwards. It seemed that the fielder had begun celebrating before he had completed the catch, so simple it was. That would have resulted in Axar taking his eye off the ball, and he couldn’t finish the job despite having two or three more attempts at it as he hit the ground. With Anrich Nortje making a hash of a routine stop at the third man boundary, turning a single into a boundary, a little later, the mood of Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant didn’t improve.
