53 Reasons to Smile

Those extraordinary 53 balls in 56 mins at Oval surreal

- ROHIT MAHAJAN

LONDON: The maddest passage of play in the lifetime of most spectators — and even media veterans — at The Oval unfolded in unbelievable events in 56 minutes, summing up the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, a series of surprises.

Monday morning, a bit after 11 am, Jamie Overton, who was jittery and nervous on Sunday evening, barely able to put bat to ball and having got 0 off six, got a short ball from Prasidh Krishna — it nicely sat up to be smashed, and Overton did just that. Next ball was pitched up. Overton, emboldened by the easy four, drove — inside edge past the leg stump, and four! Target down from 35 to 27 in the blink of an eye, and the Indians groaned in dismay for their hopes were dying.

Then came Siraj, the wild-eyed practitioner of the deadly art of wobbled-ball seam bowling that pins batsmen LBW, who grins a charming several-toothed grin when he's happy. The wily Hyderabadi kept the ball away from Jamie Smith's bat — he wanted Smith to reach out to the ball, not give him easy contact with the bat, for that's always a confidence-booster to a fresh batsman. Twice Smith reached out for the ball, twice he missed — but not the third time! He nicked it, and everyone heard it, and everyone saw the ball change its path ever so slightly after touching the bat's edge — but Smith didn't walk, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena didn't raise his finger!