Malik comes of age, but GT refuse to go down

The Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the fortieth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Umran Malik was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Most unbelievable conflict

Abhishek Sharma had had only one encounter with Rashid Khan prior to Wednesday. However, that's in the context of an IPL contest. Who knows how many times these two fought in the Sunrisers' nets. If Wednesday's events are any indicator, they squandered a huge money-making potential. The 21-year-old kid kept pwning the finest legspinner in white-ball cricket, so charging entry to the nets while they battled would have brought in a lot of money.

Khan finished the night with 4-0-45-0 figures. Sharma scored 34 runs with a strike rate of 226, which is a huge improvement from the 107 strike rate left-handed batters generally manage against the Afghanistan ace in this event.

The Titans had done their research. Aiden Markram had been averaging just 115 runs per 100 balls of spin this season. They brought on Khan to neutralize his threat, but Sharma's presence on the other end sabotaged the strategy totally. There was also a period when the youngster was clearly picking the ball out of the hand. When a ball was dropped short on leg stump in the 15th over, Sharma didn't shape to pull; instead, he made room for himself and straight-bat lofted it over cover after seeing the googly.

This entire head-to-head was summed up in just one moment. Abhishek Sharma knew who Rashid Khan was.

Unexpected appearance

Shashank Singh is a 30-year-old. By the time he made his professional debut, it was already 2019. This game is already brutal enough. However, to begin at such a late hour...

Except this is the era of the Indian Premier League. There are ten franchises, each with a large number of scouts whose networks extend to all areas of the country. If you have talent, you will be discovered.

In T20 cricket, Singh strikes at 142. Even in one-day cricket, he gets runs nearly every ball. He's a natural-born power batter. All it took was a stage to show it off. There it was.

Lockie Ferguson came in to bowl the 20th over and was thrashed by Singh for 6, 6 and 6. The first was a straightforward reaction. The ball was completely full. He continued up. Six down the ground. The mind games began now.

A fast bowler who is hit out of the park usually returns with a bouncer, which Singh was expecting. Boom. Six runs were scored over midwicket. A quick bowler who has been leaking runs in the last over returns to his roots. Singh was ready for it once more. Boom. Over fine leg, scooped for six.

Aiden Markram was meant to be their pace bowler, and he delivered, smashing 56 off 40 balls as part of a 96-run third-wicket stand. The innings that propelled the Sunrisers' total into the stratosphere, though, came from a complete unknown.

Craziest five-for

Umran Malik only needed four balls to break through. Until then, whatever the Titans touched ended up on the other side of the line.

Wriddhiman Saha is an underappreciated batter, particularly in the powerplay, when his strike rate of 134.04 puts him in the company of giants such as Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, and Chris Gayle.

He was steering a team with a shaky top three into a winning position on his own. However, Malik entered the game and shattered his opening partner's stumps. 1 for 69. He then shattered Saha's stumps. 3 for 122. Then there's David Miller's, who departs with the score at 139 for four. Finally, Abhinav Manohar's dismissed with the score at 140 for 5.

This was a visceral fast bowling spell. The majority of Malik's spells are based on speed. He approaches from afar. He lands in the crease with a bang. And the ball emerges as though fired from a cannon. Only the best batters are capable of handling such a bombardment. They're no match for a 150 kilometers per hour (kph) delivery that lands in the perfect spot, though.

An inswinging yorker was used to do Saha. Manohar was struck by a ball that sailed off the pitch. Hardik Pandya was outpaced, with the second ball injuring his rear shoulder and another catching him midway through a pull shot. Allow that to sink in. Halfway through a shot, Malik caught Pandya and his viciously quick hands. He is indeed lightning fast.

It's Tewatia time

For a necessary rate under 12, Rahul Tewatia probably doesn't even get out of bed.

In the 19th over, he dismissed one of the season's top death bowlers for 12 runs. Thangarasu Natarajan's yorker was only a few inches off the mark, but that was enough for the full-time miracle worker to smash it over deep midwicket for a six.

In the final over, the Sunrisers still had 21 runs to play with. Tewatia slog-swept Marco Jansen's opening ball for another six, bringing the score to 15. That bent-knee strike has a range from mid-off to square leg and is extremely dangerous. Tewatia is already under the ball, waiting to launch it into orbit, if the bowler makes even the tiniest error.

With 15 needed off four, Khan came on strike. Jansen also overpitched to him. Bam. For six, it's back over his head.

Despite all of this, the Titans still needed nine runs from the final two balls. Jansen had a feeling this was it. With this ball, he had to win the game. His best bet was to keep it out of reach of the batter. This is a big yorker.

Cut into six.

With that shot, Khan put the game out of reach. And he was able to do it because he understands how a bowler would react in such a situation. It was simply a matter of those fantastic wrists propelling the ball over the rope after that.

Now we're down to three off one. Jansen switches to a slower bouncer. Khan has a natural ability to hook people. It takes flight and lands over the long leg boundary. Natarajan has arrived. He takes a leap. The ground and the country as a whole is holding its breath. A fraction of a second can seem like an eternity. The fielder is beaten by the ball by a few inches. That's the end of the game.

That is, unless it isn't. Because we'll all be living it for a long time to come.