There are many aspects of cricket that are seemingly insignificant, but show their importance on certain occasions. On Saturday, until the penultimate ball of the match between Delhi Daredevils and Hyderabad Sunrisers, Mayank Agarwal was hardly seen. Having opened the batting with young Shreyas Iyer, Agarwal exited after just three deliveries. When Delhi Daredevils were fielding, he was positioned in an inconspicuous corner of the field.
So. 19.4 overs. Hyderabad needed seven runs to win from two balls. Coulter-Nile bowled a tad short of good length. Karn Sharma, at the crease, was praying for just that. He hit with great power in the square on the offside. The ball was a few centimetres away from crossing the rope. Had it crossed, Sharma would’ve been pardoned for all the sins he had committed during his two-over spell. But then Agarwal, coming from nowhere, snatched the ball back into the field, saving the boundary and the match for his team.
With due respect to Agarwal’s batting prowess, he was Delhi’s unlikely hero on Saturday. One of the many fascinating things about T20 cricket, particularly in the IPL, is that matches are won by unlikely candidates. The second fiddles are more important than they seem.
No matchwinners bar one
But so far, no one from that side of Hyderabad Sunrisers has been able to pull off a victory for their team. The only match they won was because of David Warner’s demolition of Bangalore’s bowling. Praveen Kumar’s last over yorkers almost did it in their previous match against Rajasthan Royals. Karn Sharma’s big hits towards the end almost did it in this match. But almost winning doesn’t count.
The little-known Ashish Reddy had the perfect opportunity to be the hero of the night when he walked in at number 7. With three overs left and about 40 runs to score, he could have finished the match for his side. With a four and a six in the 19th over bowled by Mathews, Reddy was on course to do just that. But a mix-up in the second ball of the final over ended his innings.
The team’s over-dependence on their top order was revealed once again. The scoring rate plummeted after David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan were dismissed in quick succession. And the rebuilding process was too slow for a T20 match.
KL Rahul seems like a fine batsman for the longer version of the game. His 110 against Australia at Sydney earlier this year showed that he has the right technique and temperament required at the highest level. But Rahul’s T20 records are at best modest. He has scored 586 runs at an average of 23.44 and a strike rate of 113.12.
Coming in at number four, he was under pressure, having to maintain the scoring rate set by Warner and Dhawan. He tried to hit the big shots but successfully connected only a couple of them. It was evident that this was not his natural game. Which is why he always looked hurried in the middle.
The rather unexpected big-hitting from Karn Sharma towards the end took the game to a close finish. But unless the middle-order becomes stable, it will get progressively harder for Sunrisers in as the tournament advances.
Some gains despite the losses
There were, however, a few positives that Sunrisers can draw from the game. Among other things, it was delightful to see Dale Steyn back in the side. He steamed in to bowl good length deliveries in his first spell, troubling the batsmen. Steyn was brought back to prevent a potentially dangerous partnership between Yuvraj and Duminy. And despite being bludgeoned for a six by Duminy in his last over, he had the last laugh when he uprooted his countryman’s middle and off-stumps in the last ball of his spell.
The star of the bowling, however, was the immaculate Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He is improving with every game. He is one of those bowlers who have enough accuracy to make up for the lack of pace. He is a shrewd bowler who uses the swing-friendly conditions early in the innings, while his precise yorkers in the death overs prevent the batsmen from hitting those crucial boundaries.
Another noteworthy performance in the match for the Sunrisers was Bopara’s 30-ball 41. Being promoted to number three, he not only kept rotating the strike but also hit three sixes to keep the required rate under control. Bopara was looking to to stay till the end, but he was undone by Duminy’s off-break. He has to make more such contributions with the bat. And if he starts performing well as an all-rounder, then Sunrisers can even try having both Boult and Steyn in the playing eleven. Boult, Steyn, and Bhuvneshwar. That would be some bowling attack, wouldn’t it?
So. 19.4 overs. Hyderabad needed seven runs to win from two balls. Coulter-Nile bowled a tad short of good length. Karn Sharma, at the crease, was praying for just that. He hit with great power in the square on the offside. The ball was a few centimetres away from crossing the rope. Had it crossed, Sharma would’ve been pardoned for all the sins he had committed during his two-over spell. But then Agarwal, coming from nowhere, snatched the ball back into the field, saving the boundary and the match for his team.
With due respect to Agarwal’s batting prowess, he was Delhi’s unlikely hero on Saturday. One of the many fascinating things about T20 cricket, particularly in the IPL, is that matches are won by unlikely candidates. The second fiddles are more important than they seem.
No matchwinners bar one
But so far, no one from that side of Hyderabad Sunrisers has been able to pull off a victory for their team. The only match they won was because of David Warner’s demolition of Bangalore’s bowling. Praveen Kumar’s last over yorkers almost did it in their previous match against Rajasthan Royals. Karn Sharma’s big hits towards the end almost did it in this match. But almost winning doesn’t count.
The little-known Ashish Reddy had the perfect opportunity to be the hero of the night when he walked in at number 7. With three overs left and about 40 runs to score, he could have finished the match for his side. With a four and a six in the 19th over bowled by Mathews, Reddy was on course to do just that. But a mix-up in the second ball of the final over ended his innings.
The team’s over-dependence on their top order was revealed once again. The scoring rate plummeted after David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan were dismissed in quick succession. And the rebuilding process was too slow for a T20 match.
KL Rahul seems like a fine batsman for the longer version of the game. His 110 against Australia at Sydney earlier this year showed that he has the right technique and temperament required at the highest level. But Rahul’s T20 records are at best modest. He has scored 586 runs at an average of 23.44 and a strike rate of 113.12.
Coming in at number four, he was under pressure, having to maintain the scoring rate set by Warner and Dhawan. He tried to hit the big shots but successfully connected only a couple of them. It was evident that this was not his natural game. Which is why he always looked hurried in the middle.
The rather unexpected big-hitting from Karn Sharma towards the end took the game to a close finish. But unless the middle-order becomes stable, it will get progressively harder for Sunrisers in as the tournament advances.
Some gains despite the losses
There were, however, a few positives that Sunrisers can draw from the game. Among other things, it was delightful to see Dale Steyn back in the side. He steamed in to bowl good length deliveries in his first spell, troubling the batsmen. Steyn was brought back to prevent a potentially dangerous partnership between Yuvraj and Duminy. And despite being bludgeoned for a six by Duminy in his last over, he had the last laugh when he uprooted his countryman’s middle and off-stumps in the last ball of his spell.
The star of the bowling, however, was the immaculate Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He is improving with every game. He is one of those bowlers who have enough accuracy to make up for the lack of pace. He is a shrewd bowler who uses the swing-friendly conditions early in the innings, while his precise yorkers in the death overs prevent the batsmen from hitting those crucial boundaries.
Another noteworthy performance in the match for the Sunrisers was Bopara’s 30-ball 41. Being promoted to number three, he not only kept rotating the strike but also hit three sixes to keep the required rate under control. Bopara was looking to to stay till the end, but he was undone by Duminy’s off-break. He has to make more such contributions with the bat. And if he starts performing well as an all-rounder, then Sunrisers can even try having both Boult and Steyn in the playing eleven. Boult, Steyn, and Bhuvneshwar. That would be some bowling attack, wouldn’t it?
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