Pathan almost wins it. And loses it again.

The match was almost lost when Punjab had lost their seventh wicket, needed 67 runs and had 23 balls remaining. Three runs to the ball. Almost three runs to the ball. Unheard of.

The only player, so to remotely be classified as a batsman was Irfan Pathan. Bipul Sharma at the other end. Again, quite unheard of.

RP Singh had bowled only two overs and conceded eight runs in the night. Dare I say, unheard of again, since the ICC World T20 in 2007.

Bipul takes a single. 66 off 22. For those mathematically inclined, exactly three runs every ball. Or a DLF maximum every second. At the expense of slightly repetitive, unheard of.

The next four balls from RP all elude the fielders, either because they cannot run quick enough to get close to the ball, or because they are vertically challenged. Four, Six, Six, Four. Confusion about which of the two Pathans is batting for Punjab. It is Irfan.

46 off 18 balls. Difficult. With only three wickets standing, almost impossible. Almost.

Ojha introduced, concedes 13 runs. 33 required off 12. RP again with the ball. Another four, another six and a single off the last ball.

19 required off the last over. Rajasthan had taken 17 off five balls in 2008 to win a fateful game against Deccan. Symonds was the bowler then. Gilly won’t repeat that mistake. Partly because Symonds has already bowled his four. But more so because he wants to make a hero out Jaskaran Singh. Jaskaran who?

First ball, Pathan fails to get a swipe in the middle of the bat. Symonds gets under the ball. Safe as houses, especially in a non-earthquake zone area. Pathan walks back. Deccan win.

For the second time in a week, a Pathan had brought his side close from a quagmire and then lost.

by Suneer Chowdhary
(The writer is a cricket rambler and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com. He will continue doing so for us whenever he gets that 25th hour of the day.)

Related posts:

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2. Preview and Live Streaming of Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab
3. Captain Gambhir wins it for Delhi against Punjab
4. Gilchrist wins toss and Deccan fields: Opening Ceremony of IPL 2010 ends at Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai
5. Of DLF Maximums, Strategic Time-outs and Commentator’s Curses

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Posted by Sam on Mar 20 2010. Filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry