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In pursuit of 303, South Africa folded for 124, of which opener Lizelle Lee made 73 at a strike-rate of nearly 100

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2018India women 302 for 3 (Mandhana 135, Kaur 55*, Krishnamurthy 51*) beat South Africa women 124 (Lee 73, Poonam 4-24, Gayakwad 2-24) by 178 runs
ScorecardIDI/Getty Images

Opener Smriti Mandhana smashed a career-best 135, and seamer Jhulan Goswami became the first bowler to 200 ODI wickets in women’s cricket, as India soared to a series win, with one match remaining, in Kimberley. In pursuit of 303, South Africa folded for 124, of which opener Lizelle Lee made 73 at a strike-rate of nearly 100. India’s spinners – legspinner Poonam Yadav, offspinner Deepti Sharma, and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad – returned combined figures of 19.5-2-72-8 to tear up the chase.After being sent in, India had a positive start with Mandhana and Punam Raut putting on 56 for the first wicket in 12.3 overs. The stand ended when medium-pacer Masabata Klaas had Raut caught behind for 20. Captain Mithali Raj was also dismissed for 20, but Mandhana sustained India’s momentum and brought up a century off 116 balls. After reaching the landmark, she cranked into a higher gear, hitting Ayabonga Khaka for boundaries off five successive legal deliveries in the 43rd over. Two balls later, offspinner Raisibe Ntozakhe had Mandhana caught behind, but Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy ensured the visitors finished strongly by raising an unbroken 61-run stand for the fourth wicket off 40 balls. In the process, Kaur moved past Jaya Sharma to become the third-highest scorer for India women in ODI cricket.Apart from new-ball bowler Marizanne Kapp and legspinner Dane van Niekerk, every other South Africa bowler leaked more than six runs an over. Conceding 21 extras – 20 through wides and no-balls – did not help South Africa’s cause.Things only got worse for the hosts in the chase. Goswami made history when she dismissed Laura Wolvaardt in the fifth over. The spinners then ran through the rest of the batting line-up, with only Lee offering resistance. She contributed 59% of South Africa’s total. Barring the opener, Kapp was the only other South Africa batsman to reach double figures. Poonam wrapped up the 178-run win when she pinned Ntozakhe lbw and skittled South Africa in 30.5 overs.

Colin Ackermann’s hundred almost made Northants pay for a day of dropped chances but Leicestershire agonisingly fell two runs short and still remain without a win

ECB Reporters Network29-Jun-2017
ScorecardNorthamptonshire plucked victory from the jaws of defeat against Leicestershire to win the pink-ball Specsavers County Championship match by just two runs at Wantage Road.Colin Ackermann’s 105 and Matt Pillans’ late-order 56 were steering Leicestershire towards a record chase of 394.Then Pillans, with only No. 11 Dieter Klein for company, received a ball from Rory Kleinveldt that bounced a little more and took the splice of the bat to point. Leicestershire old-boy Josh Cobb dived forward to take the catch and Northants pulled a win out of the fire – it was Northamptonshire’s joint-second narrowest margin of victory.A thrilling final day where Leicestershire resumed needing 350 more to win with ten wickets in hand swayed back and forth. At 299 for 5 Leicestershire were on course to get up, only for Richard Gleeson to take two wickets in two balls seven overs into the second new ball. But then Pillans, on-loan from Surrey, swatted a 41-ball fifty – for the first time in first-class cricket – to revive the visitors’ hopes.In need of another breakthrough, Gleeson delivered – drawing an edge from Ackermann to wicketkeeper Ben Duckett after an innings worthy of winning a game. When No. 10 Clint McKay also fell caught behind, to Kleinveldt, 26 were still needed.But back came Leicestershire. Klein survived for 20 balls and escaped an edge behind the wicket that Duckett dropped diving to his right when seven were needed. He and Pillans nudged Leicestershire to within one hit. Gleeson bowled a maiden to Klein before Kleinveldt came up with the winning moment – a potentially pivotal one for Northants’ hopes of promotion.Northants’ coach David Ripley said: “It’s the year of the thriller – the fourth game from seven that’s been very tight – and it feels pretty good. I thought the game had slipped away at the death, they were edging to victory and we were looking back to dropped catches or maybe batting extra time, lots of things were going through my head.”Leicestershire were heartbroken, denied a first win of the season. Ackermann’s century gave them a sporting chance, a well-paced innings that steered his side from danger after both openers fell in the first seven overs of play. He faced 198 balls and struck 14 fours and a six, sharing stands of 127 with Mark Cosgrove, and 58 with both Ned Eckersley and Pillans.Rory Kleinveldt struck in the nick of time for Northants•Getty Images

Ackermann was the rock around which Leicestershire built their chase which was reduced to 117 needed with five wickets in hand in 32 overs after tea as Northants took the second new ball.The target was brought down to 95 when Gleeson suddenly found a double breakthrough. First Lewis Hill drove at one that left him and edged to first slip. Next ball, a knee-high slower ball struck Rob Sayer and he was given out lbw to record a pair.Ackermann edged the first ball he faced to the second new ball through third slip who had just been removed but responded to being beaten outside the off stump by Ben Sanderson by running down the wicket and lifting a six into the Spencer Pavilion over long-on and hoisting another boundary over extra-cover.But he couldn’t win the game on his own. Enter Pillans on his Leicestershire debut, whose first-innings 35 saved Leicestershire from a huge deficit. He uppercut Gleeson over backward point for six, pulled four more through midwicket off Sanderson and lifted the next ball over mid-off for another boundary. It looked like being a fairytale debut until Kleinveldt found a ball to snatch the dream away.That it took until the death was of Northants’ making. Six chances were shelled, one on the third evening and five on the final day. The biggest misses were of Cosgrove on 23 – a sitter to Alex Wakely at second slip that would have had Leicestershire three down after just over an hour’s play – and Ackermann on 43 – a flying edge to first slip that Kleinveldt put down. Duckett’s miss appeared to be one-drop-too-many but Northants had a Get Out of Jail card up their sleeves.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in Mohali

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit04-May-2012

Match facts

Saturday, May 5, Mohali
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Mandeep Singh is Kings XI’s leading run-getter this season•AFP

Big Picture

For a side lacking the power and big names of other IPL teams like Kolkata Knight Riders or Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab have a creditable away record this season, having won four of six games. It is at home where they have struggled, with only one win out of four matches in Mohali. In contrast, Rajasthan Royals have struggled to win away from their home ground, Sawai Mansingh Stadium, with four losses from five games.If you go by their form this season, neither team is a favourite for tomorrow’s game in Mohali. Royals, though, are going in with a run of four consecutive losses. In three of those defeats, it was their much-praised batting which failed to score sufficient runs. They lost only 13 wickets in these three games, suggesting that the top order used up a lot of overs.Kings XI, meanwhile, have had consecutive away wins, over fancied Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings. A loss tomorrow will hurt Royals more, and will leave them in need of having to win possibly every remaining game.

Form guide

(completed games, most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab: WWLWL
Rajasthan Royals: LLLLW

Players to watch

Rahul Dravid has been in fine touch and has scored 333 runs, but his strike-rate of 116.02 has meant he has not been able to dictate terms. His average innings has lasted close to 30 deliveries, which increases the pressure on the middle order in big chases, or on flat pitches. Mohali hasn’t exactly been a high-scoring venue this season, though.Mandeep Singh‘s record for the season, 277 runs at 118.37, is similar to Dravid’s. The young batsman, who plays for Punjab in the domestic circuit, has had a role to play in Kings XI’s previous two wins. Like Dravid, Mandeep is more at ease when playing orthodox shots.

Stats and trivia

• The highest team total in Mohali this season is 171, which is lowest among all venues.
• Royals have the worst away win-loss ratio, 0.68, among the eight old IPL franchises.

Quotes

“It was obviously a very positive week for us. We have won matches against some big teams at big stadiums… the challenge for us now is to rectify what we have done [wrong] here in Mohali.”

“The first thing we have to do is to get a win, arrest the slide and get back some of the momentum.”

Acting captain Murray Goodwin made the 64th hundred of his first-class career to lead Sussex’s resistance on the third day of their Championship match against Lancashire

28-Apr-2011
ScorecardActing captain Murray Goodwin made the 64th hundred of his first-class career to lead Sussex’s resistance on the third day of their Championship match against Lancashire at Hove. Goodwin’s 113, his 45th century for the county, was not enough to prevent his side from conceding a first-innings deficit of 300 after they were bowled out for 290.But following on, openers Ed Joyce and Chris Nash took advantage of benign conditions and a tiring attack to take Sussex to 147 without loss at stumps, still 153 behind but with every chance of escaping with a draw. Joyce closed on 63, with eight fours so far, while his partner is 57 not out, having hit 10 boundaries.Sussex had resumed on 97 for 4 in their first innings and soon lost nightwatchman Amjad Khan to a slip catch off Glen Chapple, the first of four wickets for the Lancashire captain. But Luke Wright and Andrew Hodd both gave Goodwin support in two significant stands to hold up Lancashire’s bid for a third successive innings victory.Wright, playing his first game since the World Cup because of knee trouble, helped add 81 in 23 overs for the sixth wicket before left-arm spinner Gary Keedy switched ends and immediately had him taken at slip for 33 off a ball which turned out of the rough.Goodwin then added 90 in 27 overs with Hodd (28) but when the latter was leg before to Chapple’s inswinger, soon after he took the new ball, it sparked a collapse which saw Sussex lose their last four wickets in 6.4 overs for just 19 runs.Goodwin had not offered a chance during a watchful innings during which he mixed long periods of careful defence with some typically stylish back-foot shots through his strong areas on the off side. But on 113 he mis-timed a back-foot drive off the persevering Chapple and was caught low down in the covers, having faced 264 balls and hit 11 boundaries.Sussex’s tail didn’t last long, with Keedy also finishing with four wickets when he ended the innings by bemusing Naveed Arif with his arm ball.Lancashire might even have harboured hopes of a three-day win given the brittleness of Sussex’s batting this season but they were soon forced to re-think their strategies as Nash and Joyce dug in after tea.Their cause was aided by Lancashire’s seamers regularly over-stepping. They conceded 30 runs in the first innings and a further 20 second time around, with Sajid Mahmood and Farveez Maharoof accounting for 42 of those runs between them. Sussex had themselves bowled 21 no-balls – 42 runs – in the Lancashire innings.

Despite the threat of two players skipping the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in Hong Kong over non-payment of a bonus promised by USACA, the entire USA squad departed as scheduled

Peter Della Penna16-Jan-2011Despite the threat of two players skipping the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in Hong Kong over non-payment of a bonus promised by USACA, the USA squad departed as scheduled on Saturday morning from JFK Airport in New York. The only player missing was Rashard Marshall, who was excused due to a death in his wife’s family according to USACA vice president of operations Manaf Mohamed. Marshall is reportedly in Trinidad and will leave on Monday to join the squad for the tournament which starts on January 22.Two anonymous players had told ESPNcricinfo last week that they were considering staying home unless they received an overdue bonus for winning Division Four in Italy last August. Everyone came to the airport, even though it is understood that the bonus still hasn’t been paid.USA coach Clayton Lambert is hoping the team will now be able to focus on the task at hand, finishing in the top two to advance to Division Two in the UAE this April.”For us, it’s all about playing well,” Lambert said. “Once we play as a team, there’s no infighting; everybody kind of rallies around each other. Most of our guys have a bit of first class or international experience so that helps. All we need to really do is go and execute because our talent-level can match any team that is in this particular Division Three. So what we need to do is go and execute and play better than they do.”Several of the teams in the tournament have had solid preparation for Division Three. Oman and Hong Kong both went to Sri Lanka to play a series of warm-up matches against local sides while a number of Papua New Guinea’s players participated in the Australian Country Championships. Denmark also planned a five-day camp in Sri Lanka so it appears that USA and Italy are the only teams entering the tournament without any significant preparation prior to arriving in Hong Kong. Lambert acknowledged that that but said he hoped the team’s early arrival in Hong Kong could make up for it.”Of course it’s a concern. The last time we played any decent cricket was a month ago. I’m hoping that all of the guys are serious enough to keep up their training. I just have to see where we are. The good thing is that we have one week prior to the tournament. We should be able to adjust by then.”USA has one warm-up game scheduled against Hong Kong on Monday, less than 24 hours after they land, followed by four days of practices ahead of the first official match against Hong Kong on Saturday. Lambert hopes the squad will make good use of the next five days in order to start the tournament right.”The most important thing is to see how well the guys acclimatise, how well their bodies adjust. The game that we’re going to play, it’s the very first full day after we get to Hong Kong. I would have liked it to be a couple of days later so we could sort of get ourselves acclimatised. I’m just looking to see how well they adjust to the new conditions. We want to have a feel of how the wickets are going to play.”The USACA board meeting scheduled to take place in New York this weekend in conjunction with the team’s departure was cancelled due to “inclement weather.” New York received about six inches of snow on Tuesday, but has had no weather problems since. A decision was due to be taken at the meeting regarding the announcement of the date for this year’s USACA general elections. It is unknown when the board meeting will be rescheduled.

Shahzaib Hasan’s aggressive half century and a blistering 13-ball 42 from Shahid Afridi helped Pakistan thrash a weakened Northamptonshire by six wickets with 27 balls to spare

Nagraj Gollapudi at Northampton03-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Shahzaib Hasan’s aggressive half century and a blistering 13-ball 42 from Shahid Afridi helped Pakistan thrash a weakened Northamptonshire by six wickets with 27 balls to spare. At the halfway mark the visitors had moved cautiously to 57 for 1 but Afridi, returning from injury, bulldozed the opposition in his short stay at the crease to put Pakistan in the right frame of mind ahead of next week’s twin Twenty20 internationals against Australia at Edgbaston.Pakistan launched their chase at a-run-a-ball with both Hasan and Kamran Akmal taking advantage of any loose deliveries. Hasan slashed Jack Brooks over point to open the chase and a couple of overs later pulled the same bowler for six. Kamran, restless at the wicket, hit two strong cover drives against David Lucas to erase a scratchy start. But he soon faltered, offering a simple catch against a slow, looping full toss from left-armer David Willey.At the other end Hasan continued the attack, picking up two boundaries behind square leg in Elton Chigumbura’s first over. But the Zimbabwe allrounder bounced back with some tight lines and lengths which slowed Pakistan’s progress and both Hasan and Fawad Alam suddenly found it difficult to pick the gaps.Alam had replaced Salman Butt, who had been rested, and looked apprehensive on the front foot. Frustration soon set in and he offered an easy catch to Chigumbura at point trying to cut James Middlebrook, the offspinner. The run rate had dipped considerably as Pakistan added just 16 runs in the four overs after the Powerplay.But any hopes Northants entertained were smashed to smithereens by Afridi. He swung his bat at almost everything and three boundries resulted from thick edges off Middlebrook. In the same over the Pakistan captain had lofted the offspinner over the long-on boundary for his first six.The turning point arrived in the following over from Brooks. Against the first ball, a short delivery on the off side, Afridi moved back and smartly tapped the ball between point and gully to pick up an easy boundary. Next came a punched straight drive past the ropes, and this was followed by a huge slog only for the leading edge to race past thirdman for a third successive boundary. A handsome pull then flew over square leg for his second six. Hasan made it the most expensive over of the match (23 runs) with a lofted square drive for another four.From 57 for 1 after 10 overs Pakistan had rushed to 121 in the next four overs. Afridi duly retired, soon followed by Hasan who was caught in the deep but Pakistan finished on a high note.In the absence of senior players such as Andrew Hall, Chaminda Vaas, Nicky Boje and wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien Northants were always going to find it difficult to challenge the 2009 World Twenty20 champions. Fighting half-centuries from Alex Wakely and Chigumbura kept them in the contest but 133 was never going to be a big hurdle for Pakistan.

The Pakistan allrounder believes Pakistan have a far better chance of succeeding in the limited-overs matches because their players are better suited to the format

Cricinfo staff16-Jan-2010Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi has said Pakistan have a far better chance of succeeding in the limited-overs matches in Australia because their players are better suited to the shorter format of the game. Pakistan have underperformed in the three-Test series so far, losing the first game, throwing away the second after maintaining a firm grip, and are struggling to snatch a consolation in the ongoing Hobart game, let alone saving it.”The problem is that in this [Test] team, most of them are one-day players,” Afridi told the . “There is no doubt in my mind that we are a very good one-day team.”I’m confident that we will do much better in the ODIs and the Twenty20 game. I won’t say that we are going to win the one-day series but our team definitely has the potential to do that. We will definitely be playing good cricket in the series.”Afridi is currently in Australia as an overseas player for South Australia for the Twenty20 Big Bash tournament. He is not in the frame for the Test side but is an integral part of the limited-overs side. He captains the Twenty20 side and deputises under Mohammad Yousuf for the ODIs.He agreed with Yousuf that senior players will have to be persisted with and not dropped at the expense of younger players. “We are the ones who have to lead by example. It’s always important for the senior players to perform their roles but against top teams like Australia, it’s just vital,” Afridi said. “You can’t beat them without the senior players doing their job.”Afridi will join the team on January 19, ahead of the first ODI at the Gabba three days later. He will take part in South Australia’s preliminary final against New South Wales on Sunday but will miss the tournament final on January 23.

Two key figures on either side were backing their team to claim the final day

Cricinfo staff14-Dec-2009At the end of rain and bad-light hit fourth day’s play, in which Pakistan erased a deficit and eked out a 99-run lead while New Zealand managed four wickets, two key figures on either side were backing their team to claim the final day.Faisal Iqbal, whose chancy 67 was one half of a crucial third-wicket partnership which helped Pakistan take the lead, put faith in the batsmen to follow. Martin Guptill, whose first chance to bowl in Test cricket snapped a century opening stand, believed New Zealand could dismiss Pakistan as cheaply as possible before allowing their batsmen chase down a hopefully-small total.After the early loss of the well-set openers Imran Farhat and Salman Butt, both to the innocuous offspin of greenhorn bowler Guptill, the onus fell on Faisal and his captain Mohammad Yousuf to carry on the good work. That they did, adding 128 even though it wasn’t always a convincing effort. Yousuf had a let-off when Guptill missed a run-out chance after a suicidal call for a single and Faisal was reprieved after a caught-behind decision was reviewed. Hot-spot supported on-field umpire Billy Doctrove’s verdict that the noise was ball on the batsman’s thigh pad.”That was a critical partnership during that period between me and Yousuf ,” said Faisal. “It has set a better milestone for the batsmen to come tomorrow and settle down for a long innings.””At the moment we are in a very good position. Tomorrow is very crucial, especially in the first two hours. The way Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar [Akmal] batter before stumps showed that if they hang in their for at least two hours we can be in a good position. If we bat all day it will give a good result. It was a very good day for our team, especially [because] the batsmen did well. They put in their heart and soul and batted the whole day.”According to Guptill, New Zealand could “definitely” win this Test. “They are 100 ahead but you just put a couple wickets in early and they’re under the pump,” he said.Guptill, had never bowled a ball in Test cricket and had just a solitary first-class wicket, opened the bowling and removed the openers in quick succession to leave Pakistan wobbling. It was a surprise for Guptill, who was told about five minutes before he went out that he would get the ball.”We just needed to fill an over because Chris [Martin] wanted to come from the other end, then I got a wicket so just kept going,” he said. “Once I got the first couple [overs] out of the way I was alright. I’m pretty stoked to be able to get two wickets in Test cricket. I’d like to say I just did them in the air, but that’s probably not the case.”

Anderson coaching absence played down by management after hard graft at Multan

Matt Roller07-Oct-2024England’s final-session fightback on the first day of back-to-back Tests in Multan was “a hell of an effort” which owed to their “high-end toil”. That was according to Jeetan Patel, one of their assistant coaches, who said that England were “pretty happy” with their position as Pakistan reached 328 for 4 at the close of play.Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood added 253 for the second wicket after Saim Ayub’s cheap dismissal, and Pakistan had reached 261 for 1 early in the final session. But after the set batters – who both made hundreds – fell softly to Gus Atkinson and Jack Leach, Chris Woakes had Babar Azam lbw late in the day to give England a foothold on a flat surface.”I couldn’t commend them any more,” Patel said. “I think the toil they put in today was high-end: the way they tried different things to take wickets, the different fields they had, the way they fielded. To take those three wickets tonight was testament to the work they’d done in the first two sessions. We’re pretty happy with how it’s ended up, with them four down.”England were made to work for their wickets, including through a 253-run stand between Masood and Shafique•Getty Images

There was no shade from the sun at any stage in the day, and Patel praised England’s efforts in the field. “The guys were fizzing all day,” he said. “Back in the day, it would have got a lot of people down. But we talk about the positive moments … The guys went out in that third session knowing what they had to do, but also with enough energy to be able to effect it.”I’m just really proud of [them] going through that. It’s pretty hot out there. It was pretty docile at times. We probably expected [the ball] to do a little bit more this morning. It didn’t, but that’s okay. We’ll figure it out, find out if it does the same tomorrow or not. But it was a pretty strong day for the lads.”Patel suggested that a strong start to Tuesday’s play would leave England on top. “We always talk about putting two [wickets] on it: how does the game change?” he said. “Now you’ve got a nightwatchman in, so maybe we could put three on it… 350 for 7? We’ll just see what happens when we bat because we don’t really know.”Related

• Shan Masood's statement of intent sets out Pakistan's stall for the series

• Anderson's golfing absence highlights inexperience of England seamers

• Masood, Shafique hundreds see Pakistan take control

• Shakeel: Pakistan planning to use England's aggressive game plan against them

• Chris Woakes faces his overseas demons as England place faith in attack leader

With James Anderson missing the start of the tour to participate in a pro-am golf tournament in Scotland, Patel found himself working with England’s fast bowlers in training ahead of the first Test. Anderson is due to arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday, after Brendon McCullum played down the disruption of his absence on Sunday.”Two months ago, you guys were saying that he didn’t deserve to be a coach just yet,” McCullum told Sky Sports. “Now, it’s like, ‘We’re missing him’ – and I think that’s a great affirmation of how good an impact Jimmy Anderson has made in a short period of time. He’s got [WhatsApp] groups set up with the bowlers and is always feeding information through Jeetan Patel.”We live in a world where you can still communicate without being face-to-face… I don’t have any qualms whatsoever. I’m absolutely delighted for him that he gets the opportunity to do something he loves doing and when he gets here, he’ll be right in the thick of it as he has done as bowling coach since he came in.”

In the 1000th IPL game, Mumbai Indians become the first team in the tournament history to chase down a 200-plus total at the Wankhede

Alagappan Muthu30-Apr-2023An IPL game to commemorate the past produced a glimpse of the future instead as Yashasvi Jaiswal hit the most amazing hundred for Rajasthan Royals against his hometown franchise Mumbai Indians. And for 35.4 overs it looked like he would end up on the winning side.But a quirk of T20 cricket is that it can often be decided by the guy who doesn’t spend a lot of time in the middle. Tim David faced only 14 balls but that was still enough to change the course of history. A 200-plus total was chased down for the first time in the IPL at the Wankhede Stadium, and the Australian was at the centre of it all, muscling three back-to-back sixes off three back-to-back full tosses from Jason Holder in the final over.You gotta give it to the IPL. It knows how to throw a 1000th birthday party.

Jaisw-all the way

Over 999 matches, this tournament has become part of daily life in India. The main man from its 1000th might well assume similar status as his career blossoms. Twenty-one-year-old Jaiswal defied a slow pitch to amass 124 off 62 balls with 16 fours and eight sixes. Royals’ next best contribution was 18 off 19.His century became the top score by an uncapped Indian batter in the IPL and the one with the second-highest percentage (90.32) of runs in boundaries in all men’s T20. It was incredible and here’s a list of reasons why.Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed 124 off 62 balls•BCCI

The range and quality of his shots. He launched a Jofra Archer short ball clean out of the Wankhede. He reverse-swept Piyush Chawla for a six over point. He scooped Riley Meredith over fine leg. He got to his fifty with a cover drive. And his hundred with a pull shot in front of square all along the ground.Then there was the fact that all of them were cleanly hit on a surface that messed everyone else up. Rohit Sharma, perhaps the poster boy for timing in Indian cricket, was so badly deceived by a knuckle ball that 90% of his body was nowhere near the line of it. This pitch – and Sandeep Sharma – essentially duped him into ushering one onto his stumps.And finally, most of Jaiswal’s carnage happened at a time his team was in danger of losing the advantage. Royals were 72 for 0 in their first seven overs. Then they lost 3 for 31 in four overs. It was becoming painfully clear that the set batter had to both last the entire innings and also take care of the acceleration. That’s a lot of responsibility. Especially given he was facing a once-in-a-generation bowler in Archer.But Jaiswal barely batted an eyelid. He scored 72 of the 109 runs Royals scored in the last nine overs. That’s a two-thirds split.

SKY high

R Ashwin came into this game having bowled 192 balls in this IPL. And he had only given away seven sixes. Suryakumar Yadav launched him for one the moment he walked out to bat. That’s how good he is. He finds a way to render really good bowlers into really average ones.Suryakumar Yadav started aggressively•BCCI

But as awesome as his shots sometimes are – in one over he scooped Jason Holder over the keeper for six and next ball, an attempted yorker from around the wicket, he whipped it straight-bat through midwicket – the thing that is really striking about Suryakumar is how much belief he has and how he is never shaken.Not so long ago, he bagged three first-ball ducks on the trot, and yet he keeps playing the way he has always played. Epic high-risk cricket. And he had Wankhede believing. He had a crowd that roared for Sachin, that roared for Rohit, that roared for Bumrah, that roared for Malinga, roaring for him.And suddenly Royals were worried.

A turning point

Sandeep was ignored by all ten teams at the auction. Royals only got him in when one of their first-choice quicks, Prasidh Krishna, was ruled out with injury.In his second match of the season, he became that rare bowler who can tell his grandkids that he bested MS Dhoni in the final over of a chase. In his seventh match, he took an absolute screamer to dismiss Suryakumar on 55 off 29.Sandeep Sharma was mobbed after a stunning catch to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav•BCCI

Sandeep had to run back 19 metres from short fine leg. All the while looking up over his left shoulder. Even then, the ball seemed to be beating him. He had to dive, propel himself off the ground, and reach out with both hands. It was fingertip stuff. Mumbai needed 61 off 26.

David finishes it off

It was the 18th over. He was just 11 off 6. The asking rate was up in the nosebleeds, at 16.6. And yet David batted as if he was the one on top; like the scoreboard was telling a lie.He hit Boult for a four to close out the 18th over. He welcomed Sandeep in the 19th with a six. Panic-stricken, the bowler conceded a wide and then missed his wide yorker, only by mere inches, but it was still enough for one of the most powerful players in the world to get under the ball and find the boundary.The equation was now down to 17 off the last over and it was to be bowled by someone who is just not suited to the task. Holder is a new-ball weapon. He doesn’t have a good enough yorker to do the job at the death. And to make matters worse, the dew had come in, making it hard to properly grip the ball.Everything was set up for the grandstand finish and David provided it. A man who makes his name by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat went 6, 6, 6 prompting 27,000 people to go into delirium.