For those who love this format of the game for the big hits, this is pure unadulterated Twenty20 ####. Imagine David Warner, Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli and Moises Henriques on this true Bangalore track with good skiddy bounce, with pace that aids stroke-making, with dew affecting the already small outfield. Put together, Warner, Dilshan and Kolhi have scored 279 off 152 balls in their previous innings. It won’t be completely inadequate if the team meetings featured only the following words, also in tribute to Graham Dilley: “Let’s give it some humpty.”
Dilley died hours before the Royal Challengers Bangalore and South Australia gave it some fine humpty in the virtual quarter-final on Wednesday. Two-hundred-and-fourteen was chased successfully with a last-ball six, and yet the striking feature of the whole match was the minimal slogging. Daniel Vettori was left marvelling at some of the cover-driven sixes.
Vettori’s four overs for 24 runs also drew mild marvel. He will lead the bowlers’ attempts to come out of this without being violated. It didn’t happen in the last match, although Shaun Tait took an excellent five-for, but such games are often won by a bowler who does something out of the ordinary. Vettori, whose captaincy, particularly his use - or lack thereof - of part-time bowlers, has come under the scanner, will want to be the one doing that something extraordinary. So will Patrick Cummins, the young fast bowler who has impressed everybody with his raw pace. This pitch will only aid his quickness.
