Few things in the IPL warm the cockles of the heart in the middle of the confusion more than a fast bowler keeping his own.
Jasprit Bumrah is always that man for the Mumbai Indians, and then on Thursday (2/18), his unplayable spell returned the defending champions to winning ways.
But a fast bowler standing tall amid the ruins makes for a heart-warming sight, even in a losing effort. Kings XI Punjab’s Sheldon Cottrell quietly sparked his redemptive arc under the radar of the Big Sixes.
Just four nights earlier, Rajasthan Royals’ Rahul Tewatia had smashed left-arm seamer Cottrell for 30 runs in an over, which was the reason for the biggest chase in IPL history.
And one was afraid that the proud Jamaican, known for his march-and-salute celebrations, would be bound forever to Tewatia. Just like Stuart Broad before him, Cottrell quickly shook away both recollection and pain.
In Abu Dhabi, 31-year-old Cottrell ran into the opening of the contest to bowl his first over since the Tewatia one. His brutal outswingers had Quinton de Kock trapped to his crease for the first four balls.
The next ball smashed into the stumps of de Kock, and a scream and a salute came out. The grin had returned to the 31-year-old’s face by the time the over, a wicket-maiden, finished.
It also remained there for the remainder of his spell, with 4-1-20-1 figures, a far cry from Sharjah. When Cottrell finished the 13th of the innings of his four overs, Mumbai was 83 for two, still a far cry from where they eventually ended.
Punjab conceded an astonishing 108 runs in the remaining seven Cottrell-less overs.
So, how did it get to 192 for Mumbai? Well, not all the pacers from Punjab were as spectacular as Cottrell.
For 52 runs from his four overs, 40 of those from his final two, Jimmy Neesham was thumped. For one low over, even Mohammed Shami paid the price, going from 1/17 after three overs to 1/36.
And without Cottrell bowling to death, in the 20th over, spinner Krishnappa Gowtham was pummelled by Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya for four sixes.
Pollard and Pandya finished with undefeated scores of 47 and 30 respectively, the both of them taking over smoothly until then with 70 steady runs after Rohit Sharma had stabilized the innings.
All Sharma had to do now was ensure that his bowlers did get rid of the centurions of Punjab from this edition before much damage, the openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal.
Whatever an opposition fast bowler can do, usually, Bumrah can do better. With his very first over, Bumrah castled Agarwal (for 25) to damage Punjab early.
A few overs later, spinner Rahul Chahar, amid the spark of a revival by Nicholas Pooran, bowled his namesake around his waist and the descent had begun.
The match was well and truly over by the time Bumrah returned to dismiss Neesham and buff up his already fine figures.
