Three-spell trick from India’s bowling magician – Jasprit Bumrah
The second half of Afghanistan’s 29th over read – W 0 W.
It was as if the cricketing gods had conspired to describe Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling.
Wow, amazing, spectacular. After one point, you are exhausted of all the adjectives and just admire the bowling talent that this 25-year old has. You feel lucky that he is bowling for your country. Meanwhile, Bumrah keeps bowling and bowling. It’s a dazzling scene.
Defending only 224 runs against Afghanistan was a stern test of the Indian bowling attack which was rated as the best of this tournament. Led by the number one ODI bowler in the world, they did not disappoint. Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal kept the lid on run-scoring while Bumrah and Mohammed Shami kept chipping away the wickets. From the opening over itself, the Afghans were on the back foot.
The opening spell
After Shami’s one-run over, Bumrah stepped in with the new ball. Opener Hazratullah Zazai was completely at bay against the high-quality bowling. The second ball that Bumrah bowled pitched outside off-stump, moved, dipped and defeated both the batsman and the wicketkeeper. The opening four-over spell from Bumrah kept the openers jumping and hopping. In 24 balls that he delivered, the batsmen could score off only seven.
The bowler was unlucky to not have any wickets. He finished the first spell after conceding only 13 runs.
The game-changing spell
Surviving the lethal opening overs, Afghan batsmen settled down. Both openers were back in the hut but middle-order stuck at the crease. Both Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi looked comfortable with Afghanistan coasting at 98/2 in 26 overs. Captain Kohli brought back his bowling spearhead seeking a breakthrough. The spearhead obliged.
In the first over of the spell, Bumrah tried out a few variations. He mixed his line and length. The slower ball was also used. He ended up conceding six from it. The following over was an exhibition of fast bowling. On the very first ball, the pacer sent down a 142-kmph snorter that rapped on the pads of Rahmat. The umpire remained unconvinced.
Two balls later, Rahmat failed to control the short ball and hooked it straight to the fielder at fine leg. The batsmen crossed so Shahidi could shield the new batsman from Bumrah. The last ball of the over, clocked at 143 kmph, hurried Shahidi. A simple caught and bowled brought India back in the game. The double-wicket maiden rocked Afghanistan. Bumrah followed it up with another fiery over and ended his second spell as 3-1-9-2.
Death master
In an attempt to nick out Mohammad Nabi or Rashid Khan, Bumrah was brought back in the 44th over but the batting pair played him out. The bowler then returned for his customary 47th and 49th over. The third ball of the 47th was short of length and Nabi rocketed it for a six. Bumrah learned his lesson.
The yorker is considered to be one of the most difficult balls to deliver consistently. In an astute display of bowling skill, Bumrah relentlessly bowled yorkers after conceding the six. His last nine balls were either yorkers or very full deliveries which were hard to put away. The death master conceded only six runs in his last nine balls and spared 16 runs for Shami to defend. Shami proceeded to take India’s second World Cup hat-trick and sealed an 11-run win. Bumrah finished the match with the bowling figures of 10-1-39-2.
Man of the match
Very seldom does a bowler taking a hat-trick miss out on the man of the match award. Yesterday, Shami took a hat-trick and also picked two more wickets than Bumrah but it was the pinpoint accuracy and bowling terror that took precedence. Bumrah’s double-wicket maiden was essential in turning the game around. His death bowling ensured that the pressure was on opposition throughout. Putting up a show, the world’s number one bowler proved why he is India’s most important asset.
