Suryakumar Yadav’s 360-degree game was thrilling, Dewald Brevis displayed his courage, and Tilak Varma demonstrated why he is highly ranked. Mumbai Indians plainly had not anticipated the mayhem that would ensue, despite their efforts to set up a potentially difficult 162 chase for Kolkata Knight Riders on a sticky Pune surface.
With Knight Riders requiring 61 off 41 balls in the 14th over, Cummins and Venkatesh teamed up. Andre Russell had just been bowled by a Tymal Mills short ball, Jasprit Bumrah only had two overs left, and the Knight Riders were down to their bottom order. A few teams may have been uneasy as a result. The Knight Riders, not so much. Or, at the very least, not Cummins.
Cummins smacked the second ball he faced for six over deep-behind square leg, scythed the third for four between backward point and short third, then dropped Bumrah over deep midwicket off his sixth. The Knight Riders were back on the road in no time. Actually, I’m sprinting. Knight Riders ensured that losing wickets would not be a deterrent to their no-holds-barred approach by keeping the asking rate consistently under 10.
Venkatesh, who was on 9 off 14 at one point, found higher gears and smashed a half-century in 41 balls. It wasn’t a perfect inning, but it was one that was full with good fortune. Slashes soared over fielders, swipes went off inside edges, and pulls landed in open areas.
In the midst of it all, he made a big run, capitalising on some sloppy bowling to find boundaries with such frequency that wickets were no longer a concern. Cummins was able to catch up immediately. After the early flourish, he faced Australia teammate Daniel Sams for a run of 6, 4, 6, 6, 2nb, 4 to lift a 14-ball half-century, before clearing his front leg and slamming the final ball of the 16th for a six over the sight screen to seal victory.
Meanwhile It’s only fitting that the best depiction of the innings comes from someone with a disproportionate amount of cricketing talent and athleticism. Pat Cummins adds, “I just attempted to hit every ball for a four or a six,” like he did with the bat.
Of course, there will be justifications for why it worked, but at the end of the day, it was all about attempting to hit every ball for a boundary, focusing on the small boundaries, and avoiding putting Venkatesh’s wicket at risk.
Consider Cummins’ record against pace against spin: after today, his strike rate against pace is 156 at 21 runs per dismissal. Over two years ago, he hit four sixes off a single Jasprit Bumrah. He now has the second-highest number of IPL fifties among players batting at No.7 or lower.
As a result, it’s no surprise that he held a match-winning hand in this situation. Despite those numbers, he is not regarded as a true allrounder because he is susceptible to spin. He doesn’t score a single run when facing spin.
Cummins’ team is one of the few that can bowl large amounts of spin late in an innings, thus batting at the finish is usually his best option. Venkatesh has a 142 percent strike rate and a 60 percent average against slow bowling, compared to 122 percent and 28 percent against quick bowling.
Venkatesh has also performed better against spin than pace, thus his opponents are correct in anticipating the more obvious threat – the established hitter with his obvious strength.. Cummins himself had gone for 23 in the first innings’ final over. Despite having third man and fine leg up, he tried to bluff Kieron Pollard with short balls, resulting in two sixes. Cummins’ final analysis of 4-0-49-2 was likely unlucky.
“Welcome to Twenty20 cricket,” he thought to himself after a gruelling Test series in Pakistan, where he bowled 110.1 overs for 12 wickets, the joint-highest total in the series, and helped Pakistan to a 1-0 series victory.
Published By : Ankit Singh
Edited By : Khushi Thakur
