Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja smashed 37 runs off the last over of the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) innings to take them to 191/4 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium.
The all-rounder hit five sixes -- which included one off a no ball -- and a four off Harshal Patel, who had taken three wickets and given away just 14 runs in the three overs he bowled previously.
Jadeja ended the innings on 62 off just 28 balls, hitting four fours in addition to the five sixes. He put up a partnership of 49 runs off 17 balls for the fifth wicket with his partner, captain MS Dhoni, contributing just two runs in it.
Jadeja's rampage made the 20th over of the match the joint most expensive in the IPL's history, first set by Chris Gayle for RCB in 2011 when he scored 37 runs off Prasanth Parameswaran against Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
Heaping praise on Jadeja's individual show with the bat, ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan said that the all-rounder deserved a place in the A+ category of BCCI's annual contract list. Three players – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah – were placed in the A+ category while Ravindra Jadeja in the A group.
"Fantastic @imjadeja !! 6666264 reasons why he should be in the biggest contract @BCCI #IPL2021 @whistIepodu," tweeted Vaughan.
Jadeja was dropped on zero by Dan Christian off Washington Sundar in the 15th over. CSK started the 17th over on 134/3 and Mohammed Siraj and Patel gave away just 20 runs in 17th, 18th and 19th overs. While it looked like RCB had done well to restrict CSK to a below par total, Jadeja turned it around in the last over.
He started with a six over the long-on and deep midwicket areas. Patel missed the yorker and the second delivery was sent over the ropes again. The fast bowler then came over the wicket but ended up bowling a no-ball for height which was also sent for a six by Jadeja.
The free hit that came after that was sent over deep midwicket. Jadeja then looked to hit the next ball over extra cover and the fielder there almost pulled off a stunning catch. The batsmen ran two runs, bringing Jadeja back on strike and he hit the next ball over long-on for the fifth six over the over. He then hit the final ball over square leg and it took a bounce before going for four.
(With IANS Inputs)
