Twitter Reactions: Naman Ojha's 140 goes in drain as finisher Imran Tahir wins it for World Giants

Naman Ojha’s sensational 140 off 69 was consigned to a footnote thanks to some berserk lower-order hitting and incredibly loose fielding by India Maharajas, who went down by three wickets against World Giants.

For Giants, the writing nearly seemed on the walls after they were reduced to 99/4 and then 130/6 in a 210-chase. However, they redeemed themselves after failing to defend a target of the same magnitude against the Asia Lions only 24 hours ago at the same venue.

On Saturday, they ran into a spirited Indian Maharajas who outsmarted them convincingly in each department of the game for the most part until a come-from-behind lower-order attack, headlined by Imran Tahir’s unbeaten 19-ball 52 to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Naman Ojha show

The Maharajas were rocked early by Ryan Sidebottom, who struck on consecutive deliveries, making Wasim Jaffer nick him behind to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin for a duck before rapping Subramanian Badrinath on the pads.

However, in a brutal batting assault that followed, none of their bowlers were spared with Ojha and captain Mohammad Kaif unleashing themselves with authority. Ojha, in particular, was unstoppable on the night, unfurling delectable strokes on either side of the wickets.

His intentions were clarified right from the onset when he picked two fours and a six off Matthew Hoggard in the opening over before taking on the leg-spin of Imran Tahir inside the powerplay. Even the slightest erring in length was rebuked by him, while his companion Kaif happily took the backseat, enjoying a batting exhibition from what was the best seat in the house.

Ojha smoked nine sixes and 15 fours in his 69-ball carnage, making full use of the life he got on 24. He brought up his half-century with a boundary behind square off Tahir off the 35th ball he faced and his century off 57 balls with four towards third man.

His rampage stopped only in the final over of the Maharajas innings when he holed out in deep off Morne Morkel for 140 before Yusuf Pathan smashed Morkel for a giant maximum over long-off on the only ball he faced. Kaif, who scored a half-century of his own, stood unbeaten on 53 off 47.

Maharajas tighten the noose

Out in a stiff pursuit of 210, the Giants allowed the scoreboard pressure to get the better of them initially, with Maharajas chipping away with wickets at regular intervals. Ever so ruthless during his 95 against Asia Lions, Kevin O’Brien departed cheaply with Munaf Patel drawing the first blood for his team.

Corey Anderson, who edged Manpreet Gony behind to bag a seven-ball duck, effectively became the third powerplay wicket to fall after Jonathan Trott went back retired hurt. Kevin Pietersen kept his team in the game, scoring a fifty laced with some eye-catching strokes on the leg-side, but once he skied a Stuart Binny delivery to Kaif, the Giants found themselves on the backfoot.

Despite Maharajas’ extraordinary lax fielding efforts – they dropped chances beyond count – the Giants failed to muster any partnerships before the lower-order cameos of Darren Sammy, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir.

Tahir tees off

Sammy raced off to 28 from just 11, depositing Gony for consecutive sixes over deep midwicket before becoming Munaf’s second prey on the night, while Morkel swung his way to 21 off 15. However, the showstopper was Tahir, who was dropped thrice and made it count eventually.

In his 19-ball outing, Tahir smacked three fours and five sixes, three of which came in the 23-run 18th over of Gony to turn the game on its head.  With the situation distilled down to 12 needed off the final over, Tahir heaved Venugopal Rao over midwicket for a maximum and followed it by another over the head of long-off to seal the game with three balls to spare.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: