Pune hand Kochi second straight defeat
By Suneer Chowdhary
Navi Mumbai: Apr 13, 2011
Pune Warriors were given a fright by the Kochi Tuskers but much like in the manner of the previous game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team from Kerala came second-best after fighting hard through the game.
Pune needed to get 149 for the win. Graeme Smith, injured from his collision with Rahul Sharma in the field, came out with a runner but looked good at the crease. At the other end, Jesse Ryder came out at his blazing best, getting to 17 from nine before the 10th ball had him caught brilliantly by Vinay Kumar off his own bowling.
Even then, the pair of Smith and Mithun Manhas had a comfortable stay at the wicket as they got the score along to 54 in the eighth over, looking good to get the target in a jiffy.
Where the things began to go slightly wrong for the Warriors was when they lost three wickets in fairly successive intervals. First, Smith smote a Ravindra Jadeja full-toss to the mid-wicket fielder, followed by Manhas who tried clearing the field but only launched a catch to long-on.
However, the biggest blow came in the form of Yuvraj Singh (8), who nicked one from Hodge to the keeper and Pune were down to 73 for 4 in the 12th over. The target of 149 looked much farther than it actually was and clearly needed someone with a cool head and aggressive mindset to take them close.
Robin Uthappa was the answer. When he came to bat, 76 runs were needed off 52 balls and by the time he departed – to a stroke that could incite criticism but that is how he had played throughout the innings – Pune needed only 34 off the last 32. Uthappa had scored 31 off only 13 balls to switch the game around in favour of Pune.
The match seemed all lost for the Tuskers at that stage, but Muthiah Muralitharan brought out a straighter one that beat the reverse-sweeping bat of Uthappa. Waye Parnell, who had had earlier a good day in the field, with three wickets, a catch and a run-out, was sent up the order but managed only one off five before being run-out while attempting a second.
At this stage, the pressure was back on Pune, who needed 31 from the last 26 balls. It was only a six off the last ball of the 18th over that brought the parity back into the proceeding before Muralitharan was taken apart by Mohnish Mishra for a four, followed by two big sixes to clinch the game. Mishra’s cool head got him an unbeaten 37 and his side the match.
Kochi batted first but were in early trouble when they lost Brendon McCullum off the first ball of the innings. VVS Laxman was sent back by Wayne Parnell for a duck in the third over, which was also the time when Mahela Jayawardene inside-edged a catch to the wicket-keeper. The problems only compounded when the otherwise comfortable-looking Parthiv Patel was the fourth man back, gone to Parnell for 21 as the Tuskers stumbled to 24 for four.
The recovery came through a partnership of 88 runs for the fifth wicket between Brad Hodge and Ravindra Jadeja, both of who seemed comfortable for the time that they were at the crease.
Hodge made 39 before holing out in the deep to Rahul Sharma while Jadeja’s 47 had three sixes and as many fours before he was dismissed by Jesse Ryder.
Raiphi Gomez hit some lusty blows towards the end of the innings with an 18-ball 26 that took the Tuskers to a respectable 148 for seven in their 20 overs.
Brief Scores: KTK 148 for 7 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 47, Brad Hodge 39; Wayne Parnell 3 for 36, Jesse Ryder 1 for 8) lost to PWI 149 for 6 in 18.5 overs (Mohnish Mishra 37*, Robin Uthappa 31; Brad Hodge 2 for 14, Vinay Kumar 1 for 15) by 4 wickets.
Man of the Match: Mohnish Mishra
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)
Pictures © AFP