James Faulkner. The Indian crowd perhaps will always associate him with Ishant Sharma, no matter what the Indian pacer does; Faulkner’s connection with him has been made for a lifetime now. The seven-match series was squared. It was the third game at Mohali. MS Dhoni, the Indian skipper, remained unbeaten on 139 as India posted a competitive total of 303. While the likes of Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar put India in driving seat by dismissing the Australian top-order, Ishant’s off-day at work gifted the victory to the visitors. Australia required 43 runs off the final 3 overs with Faulkner on strike. What followed is history — 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 — 30 runs off Ishant’s over. That one innings propelled Faulkner among the best finishers of the generation. READ: James Faulkner aims to return to Test cricket
However, there were critics who dismissed the innings as fluke.
He proved it was not. He proved he can be compared to the likes of Dhoni and AB de Villiers in terms of finishing games in style. He proved Australia cannot be written off until he is at the crease. Faulkner reserved the best for Australia’s arch rivals, and that ODI at Brisbane can easily be his best ODI innings so far. [As an Aussie fan, I so regretted to had missed it live.]
“James Faulkner, you’re a champion. England cannot believe it,” the Sky Sports commentators went wild, as the crowd at The Gabba, having witnessed something breathtaking.
Australia were again in trouble in the second match of their five-ODI series against England. The visitors were facing a terrible patch after a whitewash in the 2013-14 Ashes Down Under. The ODI series was a way to recover and move forward. After losing the opening ODI, England finally displayed a collective effort and thanks to Eoin Morgan’s century and Ian Bell’s 68, England posted 300 on board. Barring Shaun Marsh’s half-century, the English dismissed the top and middle-order of the Aussies early, thereby eying their first victory in more than two months.
Tim Bresnan’s six balls in the 35th over silenced the crowd. Brad Haddin and Glenn Maxwell, the two set batsmen, were dismissed leaving Faulkner, Australia’s last batsman of any repute. That followed by the departure of Nathan Coulter-Nile and Mitchell Johnson in a span of 3 overs. Australia had managed only singles from overs 42 and 45. Faulkner had faced 23 deliveries and scored only 14 with no boundaries yet.
Australia needed 53 off 38 with 1 wicket to spare.
Faulkner was on strike.
All Clint McKay had to do is not get dismissed and leave the rest on his partner.
Ben Stokes had picked two wickets, and was one of the best bowlers for England that day. Alastair Cook handed him the ball again in a hope to dismiss at least McKay. Nevertheless, Faulkner had other plans for Cook and Stokes: he went on to welcome the bowler with two back-to-back sixes to end the boundaries’ draught; for once, England were under pressure.
Stokes came in again. This time he set up a chance to win the game for England but it was Faulkner’s day. Joe Root failed to complete a running catch, and eventually the umpire raised his finger to declare another SIX for Faulkner and Australia.
That was the moment after which there was no looking back for him. He displayed a flawless, controlled aggression at its clinical best. That second match is easily one of the most thrilling in the ODI history.
Faulkner either went for the big shots or double. He had taken the entire responsibility on his shoulders. He knew singles would not help, for those would allow England to have a go at poor McKay. It was a huge risk, and Faulkner did it in style.
It rained sixes. If Cook and co. covered the area he had been targeting, he found a new favourite position. He was unstoppable that day; there was nothing Cook could do. He tried. Desperation showed on Cook’s face. He tried everything under the Sun, but he was not successful. Faulkner brought up a superb fifty by smashing the ball in the stands over the mid-wicket fence. It was a lone journey, and he was bent upon finishing it with success on the Australian side.
Skipper Michael Clarke, sombre till then, was suddenly thrilled. Maxwell, one of the most feared hitters of the generation, had his mouth covered in disbelief. And the spectators at The Gabba cheered so loudly that it was a wonder that the umpires could focus on their jobs!
19 needed more off 9.
6, 0, 1, 4, 4, 4!
Faulkner and McKay ran in joy. They had turned the miracle into reality. “It was unbelievable. You don’t get many better games than this. Australia were dead and buried but he had none of it. He barely played a false shot. He middled everything else. It was great,” Ian Botham said after they all recovered what one man had done to an entire English side.
The Australians ran into the field to hug their hero. Faulkner had done it again. The previous finishing against India at Mohali was no fluke. Australia have found a magnificent finisher in him. However, he has a long way to go ahead. He is just 26. Although it is too early to judge, with these innings, Faulkner has surely made his mark as a limited-overs finisher.
Happy Birthday, Faulkner. It is sheer joy to watch you rip apart the opponents, single-handedly. [The opponents include India as well.]
Brief scores:
England 300 in 50 overs (Ian Bell 68, Eoin Morgan 106; Nathan Coulter-Nile 2 for 55, Glenn Maxwell 2 for 31) lost to Australia 301 in 49.3 overs (Shaun Marsh 55, James Faulkner 69*; Chris Jordan 2 for 53, Joe Root 2 for 46) by 1 wicket.
(Sakshi Gupta, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)
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