Published: Apr 12, 2013, 09:55 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 24, 2014, 03:27 PM (IST)
Dimitri Mascarenhas bowling spell had made contest lop-sided especially the two wickets in his first over © PTI
On April 12, 2012 Dimitri Mascarenhas picked up five wickets for 25 runs against Pune Warriors India. The variations of length and the incessant line around the stumps, with some movement made life difficult for Pune. Sarang Bhalerao revisits Mascarenhas’ Mohali magic.
In 2008, Rajasthan Royals signed Dimitri Mascarenhas making him the only England player to play the inaugural Indian Premier League. This is a trivia question that catches most of the cricket fans off-guard. England Cricket Board (ECB) did not allow their centrally contracted players to participate in the league, and since Mascarenhas didn’t earn the contract, he made himself available for IPL.
His erstwhile Hampshire captain Shane Warne had high hopes from Mascarenhas — a bowler with bagful of tricks and a lower-order hitter who had the ability to hit some big sixes. In 2007, he showed glimpses of his hitting prowess by thumping five sixes off the last five deliveries off Yuvraj Singh in the One Day tournament against India, at The Oval.
Mascarenhas’ team went on to win the title in 2008 and captain Warne’s modus-operandi of backing his players at all times played a huge part in Rajasthan’s trophy triumph.
IPL 2009 was not quite exceptional for the English all-rounder. He picked up six wickets from five matches at an average of 6.82 per wicket. In the next edition the all-rounder played just a couple of matches and picked up an ankle injury.
Kings XI Punjab then roped in Mascarenhas for $ 100,000 but an untimely injury prevented him from taking part in IPL 2011. In 2012, he finally donned Punjab colours.
Adam Gilchrist, another retired Australian cricketer was Mascarenhas’ captain. On a responsive Mohali wicket Gilchrist chose to bowl against Pune Warriors India. Punjab had lost their previous encounter against Pune, four days back, at Subrata Sahara Stadium. At Mohali, Punjab were hell bent to exact revenge.
Mohali is one of the few grounds in India where a fast bowler gets extra bounce off the track; there is also prodigious movement on offer.When Mascarenhas bowled his first ball, he squared Pune Warriors India captain Sourav Ganguly who got a leading edge and ball flew towards backward point. It was the second time in four days that Mascarenhas had accounted for Ganguly.
Man-of-the-match, from their previous encounter Marlon Samuels walked in. The West Indian had played a match-winning 46 that set a solid foundation for the lower middle-order to launch the final assault. But at Mohali, Mascarenhas breached his defence with an in-cutter. Samuels had played a torturous innings and couldn’t get going against Punjab’s opening bowlers Praveen Kumar and Parvinder Awana.
Angelo Mathews (11) failed to click. Robin Uthappa batting at No.4 had to bat till the 20 overs after loss of early wickets. Mascarenhas got his wicket on the first ball of his second spell. It was a day where Mascarenhas could do no wrong. He bowled a ball a tad slower, Uthappa hoicked the ball at square leg.
Pune were battling to post a decent score and more importantly bat 20 overs. Mascarenhas came to bowl his final over, the 18th of the innings. His bowling figures read 3-0-15-3. Mithun Manhas carted him over long-off for a six off the first ball of his third spell- quite different from the first balls of his first and second spells where he had got wickets. But Mascarenhas, being the fighter was sure to get back at Manhas. And it was a day where he could do no wrong. Manhas tried to be cute and play the ramp shot past short fine-leg. Mascarenhas had bowled a full delivery. Manhas had missed and Mascarenhas had hit the target.
He bamboozled tailender Rahul Sharma with a slower delivery. Sharma went for an all mighty heave. The ball got a lot of elevation.Mandeep Singh, at deep mid-wicket caught the ball comfortably. Mascarenhas had his first five-for in the IPL, and second overall. The first two wickets showcased Mascarenhas’ ability as a swing bowler and the last three embodied the street-smart cricketer that he is.
Punjab bowled out Pune for 115. They chased the score comfortably courtesy Shaun Marsh’s fifty. But Mascarenhas’ bowling spell had made the contest lop-sided especially the two wickets in his first over. Sadly, he could never replicate such a performance ever after in the IPL.
Brief Score:Pune Warriors 115 (Manhas 31, Mascarenhas 5-25) lost to Kings XI Punjab 116 for 3 (Marsh 64*, Chawla 24*) seven wickets.
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter @bhaleraosarang)
