CT IPL Flashback: The night Rohit Sharma made a mockery of Mashrafe Mortaza

The Indian Premier league since its inception in the year 2009 has produced some of the closest encounters the game has ever witnessed. There have been numerous nail-biting finishes that have proved over and over again the saying ‘the match is not over till the final ball is bowled’.

One such close encounter took place between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers in the second season. The tournament in 2009 was shifted to South Africa due to elections scheduled in India during the IPL window. The Wanderers, Johannesburg was the venue that hosted the game between the two teams.

The prequel

Both teams have had forgettable outings in the previous seasons and KKR were still on a woeful run in the second edition too as they had lost 9 games in a row before going into the match. DC though had turned the tides from their dismal show last year and were on a merry run led by Adam Gilchrist.

DC won the toss and asked KKR to have a bat. They got off to a slow start and to make it worse, McCullum was dismissed for just 20 in the 5th over. Sourav Ganguly on the side was finding it hard to score quickly but stood his ground to construct a fifty partnership with Brad Hodge for the second wicket.

He was sent back for 33 off 41 balls in the 15th over when the score was languishing at 85/2. David Hussey, who was in at number 4 proved to be the catalyst in the slow-moving innings. He scored 43 runs off just 17 balls with 4 sixes and 2 fours that enabled KKR to a commendable total of 160 at the end of their 20 overs.

The platform

Gilchrist along with Herschelle Gibbs provided a superb start in reply and put together a half-century stand. They added 68 runs in 9.2 overs before the skipper was removed. Gibbs too followed soon and the pressure started to mount on the Chargers. T Suman and Andrew Symonds played out a few quite overs and the required run rate kept creeping up.

They managed only occasional boundaries and the KKR bowlers kept their team’s nose in the front. Suman and Symonds fell in the 17th over leaving 33 to get off the final 3 overs. The youngster Rohit Sharma who was starting to make a mark in Indian cricket then walked in at number 5. The bowlers though kept it tight in the 18th and the 19th over and the equation popped up to 21 off the final over.

The climax

The pacer from Bangladesh Mashrafe Mortaza was in the limelights during that time for his fast bowling skills and was bagged by KKR for big bucks prior to the tournament. He was handed over the responsibility by the captain McCullum to bowl the last over.

He hadn’t had a great night thus far as his figures read 33/0 in 3 overs. He was earlier smashed by Gilchrist for two sixes and didn’t look confident before the final showdown. Rohit, on the other hand, was still getting his eye in but there was hardly any time left to do so. He had a good look at the field and the final over began.

21 needed off 6 balls

The first ball turned out to be a howler as a full toss on the leg stump was sent packing by Rohit towards the square leg boundary and to make matter worse, the umpire had his arm raised to signal a no-ball. Apparently, there were only 3 fielders inside the 30-yard circle and McCullum was gutted.

16 needed off 6 balls

The equation became a little easier for the batting side but there was still enough in the bank to be defended. Mortaza came back well and conceded only two singles off the first two legal deliveries off the over. The tension was rising and the crowd was on its feet in anticipation.

14 needed off 4 balls

Rohit was back on strike after Venugopal Rao got a single off the previous delivery. The onus was solely on him to inflict a big shot and he indeed sent another full toss from the Bangladeshi to the boundary, this time, it went out of the stadium over deep mid-wicket for a 115 meters six.

8 needed off 3 balls

Mortaza was under immense pressure and it got to him even further when he bowled a wide that made it 7 to get off 3 balls. Next, a length ball was hit to long on the as the batsmen scampered between the wickets to collect a couple.

5 needed off 2 balls

It was turning out to be a see-saw battle that could have gone either way. But Rohit was adamant to bring his side home as he smashed a wide delivery past the diving fielder at the covers and collected a handsome boundary. Still, all three results were possible given a super over would be played in the case of a tie.

1 needed off the last ball

All the fielders were in to stop the single and the demand of the hour would have been to bowl a fuller length ball but Mortaza did another blunder and bowled a short ball to which Rohit played a hook shot that landed in the crowd. The whole DC team charged on the ground as they clinched a thriller.

Rohit finished with 32 runs off just 13 balls and Mortaza’s figures were badly hampered as he ended conceding 58 runs without picking up a wicket. DC claimed a victory by 4 runs but the match would be fondly remembered for the heroics of Rohit in the final over.