Three times in four months, coach Gautam Gambhir watched big moments slip away from India. New Zealand at home. South Africa at home. This T20 World Cup started indifferently but seemed to be turning into an imperious march. Sanju Samson’s 97 against West Indies. Now his 89 runs here. But Jacob Bethell and his partnership with Will Jacks was making Gambhir’s usual grim resting face a lot grimmer.
It was then, off the last ball of the 14th over, that produced his second great catch of the night to bring a rare smile to Gambhir’s face. The wicket had also ushered in the drinks break, and Gambhir almost sauntered in with a swagger and a smile, clapping, patting backs, hugging Axar, and high-fiving his captain . Bethell was still there at that stage, but Gambhir realized that the task was going to be that much more arduous without the hitting power of Jacks.
Bethell’s great knock had put England within reach of the 254-run target. All the tactical heads must have been scrambling. Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy was violently thumped by Bethell — so much so that his place in the final is now in doubt. He had leaked 31 runs in just 8 balls as Bethell crash-landed him beyond the boundary for three successive sixes. If Jos Buttler hadn’t lost his stumps — swinging across a googly from Varun in pursuit of a fourth six — things might well have gotten even tighter.
As it stood, it had gotten tense enough. Suryakumar had no option but to bowl out Varun’s quota. He tried to spread them across the innings, but knew he had to finish Varun before the final stretch. In case Bethell was still there. And he was.
He tried Axar, but he too bled runs. The game hurtled along at manic pace when the crowd — initially silent at the start of Bethell’s fury — began to chant each bowler’s name like a scream, from the top of their run-up all the way till they released the ball. The energy was electric. But Bethell was in the mood to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
Just before that last ball of the 14th over — a little big moment in the chase — Arshdeep had bowled three wides in pursuit of the full ball that would land just inside the wide line. Wide, wide, wide. Surya was at cover, giving him thumbs up and palms-up gesture. No frantic run to the bowler — ‘I understand what you’re doing, keep at it, don’t worry’. From behind the stumps, Samson too was encouraging. So did the crowd who kept chanting the full name in three syllables: Arsh … Deep … Singh.
The next ball was another attempt to kiss that wide line. Would it have been wide? No way to know — Jacks finally lost patience and reached out to slice it for a six over cover point. That’s when Axar intercepted it with an effort to match his catch to take out Jos Buttler, with a little bit of help from Dube. Gambhir swaggered in.
From then on, Surya knew who was going to bowl which over. Bumrah with the 16th and the vital 18th yorker-filled over where he would give just 6 runs. Hardik next was easy, but who would bowl the final as the left-handed Bethell was still there? At the end of the 19th, Axar standing at long-on signaled to his captain, but Surya had already told Dube to bowl. Dube too came up with the goods.
It was that kind of collective effort. Just when things turned bleak, or a teammate floundered, someone stood up.
When Abhishek fell, Samson-counseled Ishan Kishan. When Adil Rashid was in the midst of a dreamy spell, Gambhir and Surya sent in to attack him. And the tall beefy sniper did his job with some sharp shooting.
When Samson fell, things turned tricky especially with Hardik still trying to find his touch, and a misunderstanding led to Dube’s run out.
India were 212 for 5 in 17.3 overs at that point, but the flattest pitch of the tournament — cross-rolled furiously in the morning to even it out — demanded at least 250. Where was it going to come from?
It was then Tilak stepped up with a memorable cameo — slapping three sixes in the 19th over from Jofra Archer in a 7-ball 21.
Inspired, Hardik drilled two sixes off Jacks in the final over to push India over that 250 mark.
When a batsman or a bowler failed, another filled in. And when all seemed dire, Axar Patel’s stupendous hands and icy-cold temperament dragged the match back in India’s favor.
A night to remember for the collective effort.
