PBKS vs MI: Odean Smith redeems himself with 3 wickets in last 5 days after 2 sixes off last 2 balls
India Today
Odean Smith's brilliance in the last over helped the Punjab Kings (PBKS) secure a 12-run win over the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Wednesday at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
A career economy rate of 9.45 isn’t quite the right number, especially when it’s about bowling death overs. It showed when a certain bowler, named Odean Smith, failed to defend 19 runs on a Friday night. After being asked to defend those many runs, the pacer dished out juicy half-volleys and a certain Rahul Tewatia took him to the cleaners.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) had managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). In his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) season for the Kings, Smith learned a lesson the hard way. Rahul Tewatia isn’t the most orthodox batter one would come across, but he is mightily effective.
Tewatia almost swept Smith for a six the other night to take PBKS home. In fact, with 12 to get off two balls, the southpaw took his team home. After getting hit for a six on the penultimate ball, Smith tried to bowl away from Tewatia’s hitting arc, but the batter was equal to the task.
It was pretty evident that skipper Mayank Agarwal wouldn’t trust Smith with the responsibility to bowl the final over again. However, the captain showed faith in the West Indies pacer and here Smith was, again bowling the final over of an innings, this time against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
This time around, Smith had to face the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Murugan Ashwin, who aren’t as strong opponents as Tewatia. But Smith seemed still reeling from the horror show as Unadkat pulled him over the square leg region for a colossal six.
Unadkat has the reputation of hitting the ball a fair distance and the game was well within MI's reach. The ghosts of the Brabourne seemed to haunt Smith in Pune. But this time around, instead of crumbling under pressure, the pacer showed nerves of steel.
In the last four balls of MI’s run-chase on Wednesday at the MCA Stadium, Smith gave away only one run and picked up three wickets. Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah and Tymal Mills threw their bats only to get caught. Smith finished with four wickets in the match on April 13.
