Washout after run deluge at Bangalore

The IPL (and by extension,the Champions League) has had a fairly mixed record in living up to its boast of giving domestic cricketers a platform to excel in. Ajinkya Rahane,Cheteshwar Pujara and Abhinav Mukund — to name three young players who have worn the India cap with a certain degree of success — have had precious few opportunities for their franchises,while Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar — whose bowling won Rajasthan the Ranji Trophy last season — bowled a grand total of two overs between them for the Royals this year.

Sarul Kanwar,who scored back-to-back centuries for Punjab in his debut Ranji season,didn’t get a look-in for Mumbai Indians — until a spate of injuries forced the team management to give him a go. And so,making his debut for the franchise,the 23-year-old opening batsman immediately looked the part,standing still at the crease and striking the ball with a lovely full swing of his bat.

Out of the first 24 runs he scored,18 came from sixes shoveled over the leg side field,two off Charl Langeveldt and one off Jean-Paul Duminy. This was more due to the line the Cobras bowlers kept bowling to him rather than any sort of limitation in the extent of his strokeplay. As if to demonstrate this,he smacked Vernon Philander straight back over his head for another six,picking the slower ball as soon as it left the bowler’s hand,and cleared the ropes a fifth time,effortlessly going inside-out off Robin Peterson’s left arm spin. By the time he holed out attempting another,he had made 45 off just 21 balls,and gotten Mumbai off to a blinding start,their score reading 65 for one in 6.3 overs when he walked back to the dressing room.

Pollard explodes after wobble

Kanwar’s wicket was the first of three that fell to the Cobras spinners in the space of four overs. Aiden Blizzard was next to go for 19,caught on the leg side boundary by Owais Shah to give Peterson his second wicket,before Ambati Rayudu followed,pulling Duminy uppishly to give Shah more catching practice.

This brought Kieron Pollard to the crease in a slightly unfamiliar situation,with more than half the overs still remaining. Cobras skipper Justin Kemp immediately brought back Dale Steyn,perhaps recalling their meeting at the World Cup in Delhi,which ended with a first-ball duck for the West Indian batsman.

The first ball he faced from the speedster was wide outside off,and he stroked it calmly to the off side sweeper for a single. When Pollard got back on strike,Steyn bowled a bouncer that he ignored. The next ball was a hip-high leg-side delivery. Pollard rode the bounce and tucked it away to fine leg for another single. This,by his standards,was serious restraint.

Normalcy was restored at the start of the next over. Duminy dangled one above Pollard’s eyeline,and the ball predictably sailed over the long on fence. A dot ball later,another six.

Vernon Philander,nowhere near as quick as Steyn,then tried to bounce Pollard,and was swatted twice through square leg for four. Peterson came back,and saw his first two balls disappear into the crowds. At some point in his innings,Pollard moved above Jacques Kallis to occupy the highly transient position of highest run-getter in CLT20 history. Pollard finally fell to Steyn,but only after making 58,off 37 balls,with three sixes and six fours.

His dismissal helped the Cobras pull things back somewhat by the end,with Steyn and Langeveldt giving away only 15 in the last two overs,but it all came to nothing in the end,with the drizzle that had sprinkled down all through Mumbai’s innings turning into a downpour seconds after the last ball was bowled.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 176 for 5 in 20 overs (K Pollard 58,S Kanwar 45,A Blizzard 19; R Peterson 2/29) vs Cape Cobras