Published: Feb 20, 2015, 10:45 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 26, 2016, 09:05 PM (IST)
February 27, 2011. First there was the genius of Sachin Tendulkar. Next, an innings of extraordinary brilliance by Andrew Strauss. And finally twists, turns, collapses and bungles culminating in drama of epic proportions. Arunabha Sengupta remembers the sensational showdown in Bangalore.
The match was drama scripted with utmost care, the substance built on sublime batting, garnished by inspired bowling and sprinkled with twists and turns, with some unbelievable gaffes and glitches thrown in. In the end it turned out to be fare fit to be dished out for the gods of cricket.
Originally slated to be held at Eden Gardens, the face-off between India and England the venue had to be shifted after the Cricket Association of Bengal could not quite unravel themselves from the tentacles of bureaucracy and corruption to get the stadium ready for the fixture in time. As a result the thousands who swarmed into the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, were treated to a game of a lifetime.
The master at work
In the ninth over of the game, Sachin Tendulkar whipped James Anderson to the left of square leg for four. A ball later he repeated the stroke, and this time it went scorching across the turf to the right of the fielder. Those were his first boundaries of the game and the crowd sensed something special in the making, a masterpiece about to be crafted by a genius encroaching on the satori of batsmanship. Not only were the strokes essayed to perfection, they underlined the mastery with which the innings was paced. There was an air of inevitability about the knock.
Nine overs later, the great man struck his first six. Paul Collingwood was lofted over his head and dispatched on to the advertising boards. A few overs later, Tendulkar struck Collingwood again, this time over the mid-wicket fence, and the bat was raised to acknowledge cheers greeting his fifty.
And then he launched into Graeme Swann. The ball sailed first over wide long on and then was slog-swept over mid-wicket. Anderson was driven, on the up and square, for two boundaries that screamed through the off-side. At the other end, Gautam Gambhir had stroked the ball with precision. The total, at the end of the 29th over, stood at 179 for 1. A stage looked set for a huge, huge score.
Gambhir fell in the 30th but it seemed a minor hiccup. Tendulkar carried on, with Yuvraj Singh for company. In the 34th over he turned Tim Bresnan off his hips to the fine-leg fence. The helmet came off, the face turned towards the sky. It was his 47th ODI hundred, a record fifth in the World Cup. As if indulging in an act of celebration, Swann was lofted over long on.
Anderson finally got him for 120, a leg side stroke caught at cover off the edge. But there seemed little respite for Andrew Strauss and his men. Yuvraj found the boundary frequently and with flair. Captain MS Dhoni cracked the ball with incredible power.
Ajmal Shahzad leaked three boundaries in the 43rd over, and two more in the 45th. In the following over, left-arm spinner Michael Yardy was slammed for six over long-on by Dhoni and swept for four by Yuvraj. It was 305 for 3, already an enormous total and looking likely to conclude in a final fusillade of serious hitting.
And then the batting curve went through a strangely dampened final phase of wicket-dotted dip. Yuvraj holed out to deep mid-wicket. Off the following ball, Dhoni swung Bresnan down the throat of the man square on the leg-side boundary. Bresnan fired out three in the 48th, and the Indian tail was snipped off like that of a Doberman. They did not even play out the full quota of overs, the innings ending on the penultimate ball.
However, 338 required some chasing. England had conceded 292 against Netherlands and managed to squeeze past them, but doing the same against India at the roaring Chinnaswamy was a different ask. The quest was written off as an attempt at the miraculous by many an expert.
The Strauss performance
Someone who did not really hear the pundits was the captain. Later one came to know that the skipper had supposedly gathered his men around during the break and told them, “Lads, that’s an unbelievably flat wicket, we can chase this.”
And he walked out to play the innings of his limited overs career. If Tendulkar’s knock had seen a proven master traverse rarefied realms of enlightened brilliance, the knock of Strauss was a demonstration of the dream day that graces the career of a noble cricketer on rarest of rare occasions, days on which he can do no wrong and whatever he touches turns into gold. It was not only an exceptional effort, it was probably the best batting performance by an English batsman in One Day Internationals.
Flicking the very first delivery to the leg side fence, Strauss was away and he never looked back. He had his stroke of luck, no magic in sports can work without being graced by fate. He charged out at Zaheer Khan and nicked it. The deafening noise in the stadium muffled the sound, and the fielders did not even appeal. And then he lofted Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh clumsily groped for it with one hand, spilling the opportunity. Strauss carried on.
At the other end, Kevin Pietersen’s explosive cameo came to an end when Munaf pouched a return catch while more interested in saving his face from a bludgeoning drive. The start had brought 68 in less than 10 overs. Piyush Chawla sent back Jonathan Trott, trapping him on the crease. But, by then the total was 111 in 16.4.
Strauss kept hitting them cleanly and often. He found gaps, and often the ropes. The spin threat was overcome, with the captain playing them late, often off the back foot, and sometimes coming down the wicket to kill the turn. Yuvraj was slammed over long on for a huge six. Yusuf Pathan reverse-swept with ease. The hundred of the England skipper was brought up in just 99 balls.
His ally at the other end, Ian Bell was beaten by Chawla twice even as he took guard. At 17, he survived a scare. Trying to paddle Yuvraj down towards fine-leg, he missed and was struck in front. The bowler was convinced, umpire Billy Bowden was not. Dhoni pondered, Yuvraj furiously underlined his conviction. The captain’s arms were joined in a T, asking for a review. The thousands in the stadium saw it on giant screen. They saw the ball pitch in line and there was no doubt it would have hit the stumps. Even Bell was ready to depart. But the decision stayed. The batsman had been hit more than 2.5 metres down the wicket, and DRS was not considered to be as accurate at that distance. The Bangalore crowd chanted, “cheating”. Dhoni was not amused. Eventually the furore would go a long way to affect a rule change. But that was not for now, and the game continued.
After that Bell proceeded to play a fluent, pleasing knock. He placed them with ease and ran hard. All of a sudden Chinnaswamy was quiet. The runs were coming way too easily, the bowling lacked bite or even teeth of any sort. The partnership was past hundred, and soon a lot more. Chawla, after a few confusing googlies, had become predictable. Bell ran down the wicket and creamed him over long on to bring up his half century off 45 balls. To make matters worse Virat Kohli dropped him off the leggie. At the end of the 42nd over, England were cruising at 280 for 2. The enormous total looked likely to be chased down with plenty to spare.
And then the England batsmen opted for the batting Powerplay.
Twists, turns and the tie
The match swung like a pendulum gone crazy. Zaheer ran in and Bell, perhaps drenched in sweat and cramping in the heat, tried to hit him out of the park. The ball went off a leading edge to Kohli at mid-off.
The very next ball was a scorching in-swinging yorker, and it seared into Strauss’s boot in front of the wicket. England captain was gone for a breathtaking gem amounting to 158 from just 145 balls. India were back in the game on the double.
Just two came off the next Chawla over as Collingwood and Matt Prior struggled to read the spin.
Zaheer ran in again, and let go a slower. Collingwood swung way before it arrived and his off stump went askew. And off the next over, Harbhajan sent back a struggling Prior off a top-edged slog. 54 required off 28 deliveries. England 6 down, wickets tumbling like ninepins. The crowd had turned raucous again.
Yardy struck a boundary and knocked it around for a while, but then tried a cute scoop off Munaf. The ball lobbed gently to short fine-leg. Off the last two, England needed 29. Swann and Bresnan were at the crease.
Was Chawla the right man to bowl the penultimate over? One wonders. But then, after the ease shown by Strauss and Bell in tackling him, the England late order batsmen had struggled to pick him.
And now he ran in. Swann went down on his knee and flat batted him over mid-wicket for six. A couple of balls later Bresnan tried the same stroke but it was fielded in the outfield and got him a couple. Undeterred, he tried again and this time the crowd behind mid-wicket took cover. 15 had come off five balls. England were back in it with a roar. The sweat streaked face of Strauss looked on from the pavilion, the eyes kindled with new found hope.
And off the next ball Bresnan tried the stroke once too many. It was quicker, flatter and the swinging bat missed it. The stumps did not. 325 for 8. Ajmal Shahzad walked out to join Swann. Munaf had the ball.
Swann struck the first one and ran hard, the fielder at deep cover fumbled and groped before sending in the return. The batsmen were back for two. 12 required off 5. Importantly for England, Swann had the strike.
The following ball came through much slower. The English offie was deceived. It went off the edge to third-man. A single was all they got. 11 needed off 4. Swann off strike.
Munaf ran in, and sent down a rank half-volley. Shahzad got his front leg out of the way, brought his bat down in a full-blooded swing, and dispatched it over the bowler’s head out of the ground. Strauss sprang up on his feet in the pavilion. 5 needed off 3. Munaf stood shaking his head. The crowd had gone quiet again.
And in Munaf ran again. Shahzad swung one more time. On this occasion there was no deafening crack of the bat hitting the ball. It was collected by Dhoni behind the stumps. And Swann was seen scampering down the wicket for the bye. Shahzad sprinted in response. Confusion, slapstick and the bye was taken. 4 needed off 2.
Swann looked around the field, calculating endlessly. But his mind was made up about the course of action. He was halfway down the wicket even as Munaf let the ball go. The swing was aimed for the distant suburbs of Bangalore. The edge took it fine on the leg side. The batsmen hared across once, turned, and scrambled down the twenty-two yards again. 1 to tie, 2 to win. Last ball was to be bowled.
The stadium was rapt. The English dressing room was a storehouse of nerves running haywire. The field circled in, many feet fidgety as they closed in on the square. The bowler was breathing a soft prayer to himself. Only behind the stumps, Dhoni’s ice-cold eyes betrayed no emotion. In ran Munaf.
And he pitched on near perfect length. Swann unleashed the drive. It went straight to mid-off, picked up and returned without the fumble and fracas every edgy nerve called out for. The batsmen ran a single. The spoils were shared. The incredible match had ended in a tie.
Brief Scores:
India 338 in 49.5 overs (Virender Sehwag 35, Sachin Tendulkar 120, Gautam Gambhir 51, Yuvraj Singh 58, MS Dhoni 31; Tim Bresnan 5 for 48) tied with England 338 for 8 in 50 overs (Andrew Strauss 158, Kevin Pietersen 31, Ian Bell 69; Zaheer Khan 3 for 64).
Man of the Match: Andrew Strauss.
(Arunabha Sengupta is a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix)
