Spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan is known for his cool and calm demeanor. But on Wednesday, the highest wicket-taker in the world was seen venting out rather angrily. And the reason, a 22-run final over in the Indian Premier League (IPL). A rarity indeed, and so thus the reaction.
Chasing a sixth straight win in IPL 2022, Sunrisers Hyderabad were in control of the match against Gujarat Titans. Defending a total of 195 runs, Kane Williamson & Co look certain to complete a league double against the debutants. The equation was 35 runs in the last two overs with Gujarat Titans at 161/5.
After a 13-run penultimate over from T Natarajan, the equation became 22 in 6 balls. And Kane Williamson handed the ball to Marco Jansen, the hero of their big win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous match.
Then this happened: 6, 1, 6, 0, 6, 6, with former Hyderabad star Rashid Khan hitting the last three sixes after Rahul Tewatia opened the floodgates with a maximum of his own off the first.
An unbeaten 59-run stand in just 24 balls between Rahul Tewatia (27 off 13) and Rashid Khan (31 off 11) meant that Gujarat Titans won the match by five wickets.
The turn of events stunned the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp. But Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sunrisers Hyderabad spin bowling coach, was clearly not happy with Jansen's effort.
Soon after the second last ball, a low wide full toss, was dismissed over extra cover for a six by Rashid Khan, the broadcast camera panned to Muralitharan for a fleeting moment, and it was enough.
Those who have the gift of lip-reading claimed that the 50-year-old Sri Lankan legend said “Why the f*** is he bowling full?"
Well, here's the video footage:
For the record, the over resulted in 25 runs, but 22 runs is the second-highest target achieved in the last over in IPL. In 2016, Rising Pune Giants scored 23 runs against Punjab Kings, with MS Dhoni hitting Axar Patel for three sixes and a four in the final over.
Marco Jansen ended up leaking 63 runs from his four overs. One forgettable outing for the young South African pacer.
However, the match will be remembered for Umran Malik's sensational spell. The 22-year-old from Srinagar produced the third-best bowling figures in an IPL match by an uncapped player -- 5/25, only behind Ankit Rajpoot's 5/14 in 2018 and 5/20 by Varun Chakravarthy in 2020.
Umran Malik's 5/25 were also the second-best figures for a Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler in IPL, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 5/18 in 2017.
Despite the defeat, Sunrisers Hyderabad are third in the IPL 2022 points table with 10 from five wins in eight matches.
Gujarat Titans sit pretty at the top with 14 points from seven wins and one defeat.
