KOLKATA: In January, as Rashid Khan went about further cementing his status as a hot wrist-spinning T20 commodity during the Big Bash League, a video of his did the rounds on Twitter for a few days.
It was of an unbeaten 6-ball, 16- run outing for Adelaide Strikers, one that was lauded for both its hilarity — Rashid attempted an AB de Villiers-esque paddle from outside off-stump, only to miss it completely and fall flat on his bum — and audacity.
The latter was courtesy two monster sixes he smacked off Mitchell Mc- Clenaghan, that too at a venue — Sydney Cricket Ground — where batsmen have to really use their shoulders to clear the ropes. Strikers ended up winning that match with 25 runs to spare.
Rashid isn’t really a mug with the bat. Despite an average of 12.26 in T20s, he strikes at 145.36. He also has two ODI fifties to his name; creditable achievements irrespective of the fact that both have come against Ireland.
But the notion of him not being an out-and-out bunny started gaining more popularity after he almost helped SunRisers Hyderabad squeak through against Chennai Super Kings last month.
His unbeaten 4-ball, 17 run cameo saw him biff the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur around. So here he was, sent in with his blade in hand to the Eden Gardens on Friday night, with Kolkata Knight Riders breathing down SunRisers’ neck in their Qualifier clash.
The home team’s spin troika of Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla had reduced the Orange Army to 134/6 in 17.5 overs. His team had gained quite the reputation of being the masters of defence this season (they’ve won thrice despite notching up below-150 totals first up), but a scoreboard cushion is quite the prerequisite for winning a crunch clash.
And Rashid took it upon himself for providing Sun- Risers exactly the same. Pacers Prasidh Krishna and Shivam Mavi were his victims, as the last three overs were witness to a 50-run blitzkreig.
The former was the one who bore the brunt of Rashid’s onslaught, being tonked for two fours and two massive sixes, apart from conceding 24 runs off Kolkata’s final over. Rashid’s unbeaten 10-ball 34 — also his highest score in T20s — cannoned Sunrisers’ scoreboard to 174/7 in 20 overs, and their vaunted bowling unit had something to make a fist out of.
It didn’t look like they could during Kolkata’s powerplay. Their Narine experiment gave them a nitrous boost up front, and they’d blazed their way to 67/1. But Rashid was in no mood to be left out of the game.
Nitish Rana slipped while taking a second run in the ninth over, and the 19-year-old swooped in like a hawk at deep midwicket and howitzered in a throw, catching the southpaw just short of the crease.
After Rashid the Batsman and Rashid the Fielder had made their presence felt, it was time for Rashid the Bowler to step up. He started that two overs later.
A googly sneaked under Robin Uthappa’s pre-meditated reverse sweep, and splayed his stumps. SunRisers now had a whiff of hope. By the time Rashid completed his quota for the day, his wrong ‘uns had also claimed Kolkata’s anchorman Chris Lynn and Andre Russsell.
The chinks that the leg-spinner created from one end were exploited by his comrades, as Kolkata slumped from 93/2 in 10 overs to 118/6 in 15 overs. Though Shubman Gill’s resilience and a few blows from Piyush Chawla gave a glimmer of a win to the home team and their fans in the capacity crowd, Dinesh Karthik and his men eventually fell short by 13 runs.
Sunrisers now have an IPL final date with Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, and they have Rashid’s 34 runs, figures of 3/19, one run-out and two catches to thank.
rahulravi@newindianexpress.com