Momentum has been lacking from Parthiv Patel’s T20 game, but in Mohali, he was able to find it in style against the pace of Mitchell Johnson
Sidharth Monga in Mohali03-May-20150:36
‘Simmons helps me play fearlessly’ – Parthiv
Parthiv Patel’s IPL strike rate before this match was 110. He had scored five fifties in 83 innings spread over eight seasons. He has been asked to open for Mumbai Indians as a belated plan this season. Coming into this match he had scored 96 off 75 balls in six innings. Although Mumbai had started winning, Parthiv and Unmukt Chand in the top three – struggling to score either quick or big runs – were a huge concern for Mumbai, leaving Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard with too much to do, especially given Lendl Simmons’ tendency to slow down after six overs. Even as Simmons raced away to 21 off 16 balls, Parthiv again seemed to be reprising the old problem with five runs off eight balls. Then bowled Mitchell Johnson.Johnson is still one of the best bowlers in Test cricket, the fifth-best according to ICC. He was excellent in the final stages of the World Cup. Back when he bowled in India in 2013 – just before the Ashes rout of England – he could take out Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh at will. In Twenty20 too, he was instrumental in Parthiv’s current team’s IPL title win earlier that year. Parthiv last played international cricket in 2012. Even though Johnson has not had a great IPL this year, this was supposed to be the time when Kings XI Punjab would put pressure on the Mumbai top three, especially Parthiv and Chand.Parthiv had other ideas. The first ball Johnson bowled to Parthiv was a bouncer, which he ramped, and given Johnson’s pace it sailed over third man for a six. Okay one bouncer. Maybe the pitch doesn’t have the sting. Johnson went full next ball, and strayed down leg. Parthiv unfurled his wrists to whip it over square leg. All of a sudden Parthiv was finding momentum, a quality that has deserted him as his stats suggest.Johnson has had a long testing season, physically and emotionally. Another long sojourn to the West Indies and England beckons. He has come here with a Cricket Australia plan. He is not to bowl any more deliveries on a given day than the plan prescribes. This is not the ultimate test for him this year, but he found himself in a contest that was slipping out of his hand. Parthiv had entered that zone where he was punishing every little error. The next ball was whipped away on the leg side for two. And then he went a step further: he drove on the up, through the covers, and got four off a delivery that didn’t have too much going against it.There was no movement on offer, the pitch was slow, keeping a little low, which would make it tough for the batsmen coming in. We hadn’t realised all that yet. We had just seen Johnson go for 18 in his first over, not one streaky shot played. Parthiv scored 17 of those, and the only time he had scored more in one over previously had been off Johnson.The decision now for George Bailey was between cutting his losses and letting Johnson having his own back. Any other time, any other format, you would back Johnson, but this was Twenty20, and he had given away runs at 9.37 an over this season. He was making a comeback into the side after being left out for conceding 39, 40, 33 in his last three matches. Momentarily Bailey cut his losses and went to his two spinners to bowl overs six and seven.Only 14 came off those overs, and Bailey rolled the dice again. He gave Johnson a change of ends and asked for his senior quick to produce a wicket. There wasn’t too much wrong with the first ball he bowled: it was short of a length – Parthiv prefers the drive, it was bowled at 140kph, and it was aimed at the body. Parthiv, though, was prepared. He rocked back early and played a pick-up pull over square leg for six. He was 36 off 22 now, and had gone well past Simmons. A yorker and a slower ball followed, which produced one run, but Johnson undid the good work with a leg-side full toss last ball of the over. The four took Parthiv to 41 off 25, and he had scored 28 off nine Johnson balls. Johnson to Parthiv overall in IPL: 26 balls, 57 runs, never got him out.It wasn’t breathtaking, it wasn’t long, it didn’t involve shots that you will remember next week, but in a brief concentrated attack, when everything came together for him, Parthiv had taken apart the big draw of the opposition. Mumbai were pulled back in the last 10 overs, and then returned Kings XI the favour, which made Parthiv’s attack on Johnson the decisive play of the match.
