Downpour after drizzle

After rain-break,Yusuf lashes fours and sixes in 96-ball 123,makes mockery of 316-run target

An incessant drizzle stopped play at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with India chasing of a competitive New Zealand total of 315. Had the covers stayed on,India would have lost the fourth one-dayer according to the Duckworth-Lewis method. At 203/5,India were 17 agonising runs behind.

Rain meant New Zealand were in line to end their nine-match losing streak. Walking back to the hut in a drench,two of the hardest hitters in this young Indian side Yusuf Pathan and Saurabh Tiwary must have wondered if they would get another chance to have a go. Sixty minutes later,the two Indian batsmen walked back onto the field. The drizzle had stopped and a couple of super-sopper rollers had semi-dried the outfield. It rained again,but this time around,it was fours and sixes from Pathans blade.

Pathan smashed the first ball on resumption one from Daniel Vettori into the long-on stands. It was the start of a counter-attack that took the game away from the Kiwis. When Pathans blitzkrieg was over,India had won by five wickets with seven balls to spare,a win that gave them a 4-0 series lead. The six off Vettori brought up Pathans half-century and soon he went past his highest score of 59 not out in 40 previous matches as he smashed his way to his first century in one-dayers. With his match-winning knock,and after taking 3/49 earlier,Pathan firmly put himself back in contention for a World Cup berth as the main man for the all-rounders slot at No.7.

Since the tri-series in Zimbabwe in May-June where he couldnt make a significant contribution Pathan hadnt found a place in the ODI side till the beginning of this series. He had made 29 in Guwahati in the opener,but the imperious form of Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli didnt require him to bat in the next two games in Jaipur and Baroda. Critics have pointed to his lack of consistency with the bat. Yet,with players like Pathan on a good day,no target is too big; no boundary too far; no bowler good enough,to stop his charge.

On Tuesday,Gambhir and Kohli fell early both to Andy McKay and Pathan made the luxury of batting for a shade over 30 overs count. But Parthiv Patel,playing his first ODI in over six years,kept India in the chase with a quick fire half-century his highest score in this form of the game. Yuvraj Singh and Patel fell in quick succession,but an 80-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Pathan kept India in chase of 316. Sharmas departure coincided with the pitter-patter,leaving both sides contemplating the result of the inconsequential fourth ODI.

But once the players came back on,Pathan didnt give the Kiwis much of a chance. His first 53 runs,including the six off Vettori when play resumed took 50 balls. The next 47 he scored to bring up his century,with a pull off McKay,consumed just 29 balls. Such was the brute force and timing displayed by Pathan that he completely overshadowed Tiwary,who was happy to rotate the strike.

From New Zealands perspective,what was missing was a spark of individual brilliance from their bowlers,something that James Franklin showed with his bat during his unbeaten 98 off 69 balls. After an attacking opening partnership from Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill,which set the tone for the day,the first innings was a Franklin show through and through. Ashish Nehra conceded 21 runs in the final over of the innings as Franklin hit two consecutive sixes and followed it up with two back-to-back fours,helping the Kiwis finish at 315,their highest total in this series. But as the day ended,Pathans 123 off 96 left a lasting impression and wiped out everything that was on display at the Chinnaswamy Stadium,before the rain break.