And the IPL has hit its peak. It was long awaited and it has arrived. The clash between Gujarat Lions and Punjab was the closest we had in this year’s IPL, but the game between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Pune was just as nail-biting.
Batting first, SRH were toppled by Adam Zampa’s inhuman spell. He took six wickets and ended up with the second best figures in the history of IPL.
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The pitch was a difficult one for the batsmen, so SRH’s target of 138 was a very defendable one—and the bowlers did their work with Ashish Nehra being the most impressive of the lot.
There were plenty of memorable moments in the match that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. And here are 5 of the best:
1) Dhawan continues fine form
In a rare turn of events, David Warner couldn’t find himself among the runs as he could muster only 11 runs from the 14 balls that he faced. To be fair to him, though, the pitch was an incredibly difficult for the batsmen.
But that didn’t stop Shikhar Dhawan from playing yet another fine innings in adverse conditions.
Before the beginning of the tournament, and even in the initial stages of it, people wanted to see the back of him. Now, however, they will be hoping that he continues his good form. Against Pune, he scored 33 runs in the 27 balls to squeeze out runs for his team when other batsmen failed.
2) Zampa’s impossible spell
This was by far the greatest spell of bowling down in this year’s IPL. Picking up 2 wickets in T20 is an incredible feat in itself, but picking up 6 wickets is something which is lauded in Test cricket circumstances.
And against the Sunrisers, Zampa did that within the 4 allotted overs to produced one of the finest displays of spin bowling in T20 cricket. It might be too late for Pune, but they have a great spinner in their hands—and so do Australia.
3) The Ashwin experiment
It has been claimed that MS Dhoni has lost faith in Ravi Ashwin, giving him lesser and lesser overs to bowl. However, even if he might not be giving him the ball, he entrusted him with the bat as he sent him to play at number 4.
And it almost worked. Almost. Well, at least he looked like the only one who could time it with the bat as the rest were just struggling to get on with it.
In a pitch that was a very difficult one to bat, he scored 29 runs from 25 balls—steadying the ship and providing the platform for the lower order to launch and finish the game.
4) Mustafizur’s art of death bowling
It was one of those rare games where this man couldn’t pick up a wicket. Nonetheless, he once again displayed to us what the art of death bowling is with a superb array of deliveries that he bowled in his final 2 overs.
In fact, he conceded only one boundary in his entire spell—showing the tightness of his bowling.
In the 2 overs that he bowled at the death, he gave away 5 in his first one and 8 in his second. Indeed, MS Dhoni batted in a very cautious way against him and wasn’t looking to hit him for boundaries, knocking it for 1s and 2s and leaving it for the last over. This just goes to show the respect others have for him.
5) The Nehrajee onslaught
Ashish Nehra used to be the subject of mockery for many. Right now, however, the respect for him is such that no-one dares to say his name without adding a ‘ji’ in the end—a Hindi term used as a sign of respect for someone deserving.
And none is more deserving than Nehra—not against Pune at least.
With 14 to defend off the last over, Warner threw the ball at the veteran and he bowled 3 beautiful balls upfront to give away only 2 runs while taking a wicket in his 3rd. With 12 needed off the last 3, the match was virtually won, but a six from Dhoni changed the equation.
However, 2 more great deliveries stopped Pune in their tracks and threw them out of the tournament. Nehra returned with figures of 3/29 in his allotted 4 overs.
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