As the 2014 edition of World T20 reaches its business stage, a lot of spectators would have already lost their finger nails thanks to some riveting last-over finishes coming from breath-taking performances. The bonus is India winning all their matches and making the semi-finals before any other team. Cherry on the cake was their opening win over Pakistan. One man, Amit Mishra, has been the backbone of those stellar performances as he has perplexed many a batsmen with his leg-spinners. Pioneer Sport takes a look back at some of the achievers
ONEDROUS
CEREBRAl ASSASSIN
Saeed Ajmal’s widely regarded as the best and not for nothing. He was bowling his last over against Australia, does that ring a 2010 bellIJ And the odds were saying that the Aussies had five wickets in hand — a set Aaron Finch — and required 31 from 18 deliveries. Gettable! Did you bet against AjmalIJ You would have lost that one. Six wily deliveries that included three doosras, a yorker and two orthodox ones and flummoxed Aussies later, the ratio read 30 to win from 12 deliveries. But now, they just have four wickets as the yorker got rid of Finch for 65.
BOWlING MACHINE
Does Dale Steyn ever tireIJ Whatever the situation whoever the opponent, give the ball to him and you’ll see something special. New Zealand required seven to win from six balls and Ross Taylor was one of the Kiwis batting on unbeaten 62 but was off strike. It had to be Steyn and his brute pace. First was too hot for luke Ronchi who was caught behind. Then, Nathan McCullum was beaten by pace on the next two but connected the fourth for a boundary. Three off two now. A mistimed shot got Nathan caught but now Taylor had taken strike as the batsmen had crossed. last ball was a fiery one and all Ross could do was hit it straight to the bowler. He was run out and Proteas won.
BlADE OF FURY
If only Glenn Maxwell had a stop button in his belligerent repertoire, then perhaps Australia would have won a game or may be two. Especially when you get 30 runs, while chasing 192, in one over itself. Nevertheless, assume you’re Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhatti. Then you would still be getting nightmares of a four over point, a six over mid-wicket and then another one over long-on off the bat of Maxwell. By now you’ve already given 21 in five balls and pressure takes toll on you and you bowl a beamer only to give away another five. Now, you just want to finish and a four at extra-cover, driven, isn’t a bad option.
Startling
TON STUN
The soft-spoken Nottinghamshire opener Alex Hales may have not been well known to the world but after smashing the only hundred of World T20 this year meant that the mighty Sri lankans, one of the favourites, were given their first beating in some time. It was also England’s first century in this format, and the batsman finished on 116 from 64 balls. Appropriately he was the man to crack the last ball of the match into the stands at mid-wicket before being embraced by his grateful colleagues. England had chased down 189 against the tide and against the likes of lasith Malinga.
AGAINST All ODDS
In 2009, they had stunned England at home and the Netherlands continued their march into cricket’s youngest off-spring with aplomb. First they beat qualified out of nowhere and then gave the might of the Proteas a big scare in the tournament, the South Africans only managed to beat the minnows by five runs. Most astonishing was their qualification as they chased down 190 in 13.5 overs to break the hearts of their opponents Ireland and Group B rivals Zimbabwe, to progress to the Super 10. Netherlands needed to achieve the formidable target in 14.2 overs.
offence for defence
They are the defending champions but there’s a question mark on whether the West Indies know how to be defensive. Their match against Australia was arguably, Australia vs Pakistan may have be equally good but it was the banter part before the game which made this one the best of the tournament so far. And, it went into the last over. James Faulkner who had said the other day that he did not like the West Indies was bowling the last over with the defending champions requiring 12 to win. Two dot balls and two sixes later, Windies were rejoicing and the Australians staring at an ouster.