Root, Kohli and art in T20 batting

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Along the ground and through the gaps in T20? Seriously? © Associated Press

In his final notes on the game, Martin Crowe talked of the worry he had once experienced about the long-term effects of T20 cricket. He was by nature a traditionalist, though, thankfully blessed with a modern mind. He recalled the first T20I ten years ago in Auckland and 30,000 people at Eden Park watching Ricky Ponting bat wonderfully well. In those recent notes Martin wrote, "Ponting, a true great, caressed the ball to all and sundry for 98 glorious runs. In the com box we wondered, and worried a touch too, about the effect this [new cricket] would have - on everything."

I thought of these words while watching two supreme innings played under almost unbearable pressure last week.

The first, by Joe Root, saw England home. The second, by Virat Kohli, did the same for India. It has been hard to celebrate batting in T20, as distinct from ball-striking, because the game is essentially about power and there is more to batting than that. The very best batsmen of all time from England and India would have been hard-pressed to bat as well as Root and Kohli did, simply because the physical and mental range of batsmen has changed so much in this last decade. This isn't to say that Walter Hammond and Sachin Tendulkar did not have the requisite talent, sure they did, just that self-expectation is very different. Almost literally, batsmen now think anything is possible. T20 has removed doubt in a way that has improved cricket in general.

I never agreed that nerves were a good thing. You cannot be tight to be at your best. You need to be loose of shoulders, arms and hands to bat freely, and you need to be loose of mind to think clearly. Crowe described a cluttered mind as "traffic" and said traffic gives you no chance. Nerves, doubts, fear all provide potential for failure in my eyes.

Though the shortest form of the game lacks the opportunity for colourful or in-depth storytelling, it has expanded the reach of batsmen who no longer fear the loss of their wicket. They play outrageous shots that can hardly be explained by words - having said that, it would be fascinating to hear or read Arlott, McGilvray, Mukherjee, Cardus or CLR James have a go - and often perish because of the outrageousness of their ambition.

Perhaps attaching attack to defence has done a 360-degree turn. Perhaps now the skill is attaching defence to attack and applying it to short periods of batting during which survival matters but at relatively little cost

The beauty, the sting, in the situations in which Root and Kohli found themselves was that their wicket mattered just enough for them to have play within some parameters. To crystallise: both teams were all but out of the tournament if they lost. The cold facts tell us that Root made 83 from 44 balls in pulling off the second highest chase in T20 history. What they don't do is tellhow.

Here is how. He scored from 41 of the balls he faced, many of which were singles. These dissolve dressing-room tension because they give the impression of the game moving along. He hit four sixes. These bring dugout ecstasy. He had never previously hit more than two in an international T20 knock. The rest of the time he hit the ball along the ground, into gaps, which suggest he is finding it easy and allows the next man in to see the light. On the odd occasion that a boundary came from an aerial route, it was done so as a deliberate up and over - witness the shot of the innings for me, the upper cut for a one-bounce four over backward point. This led to a group of team-mates leaping from their seats, applauding wildly and then gawping as if in awe of their buddy.

Joe the Lion punched the gloves of the men with whom he batted: this suggests we are all in it together. He kept smiling: this gives the lads an idea that things are fine. He bats with purpose. He bats with poise. You watch him and think he has got this thing covered. You are amazed when he is out - like, what, really? He even played that reverse-ramp thing that sent him back to the pavilion at Lord's in an Ashes Test, wait for it, for 180. This time, three years on, it added another half-dozen to his total. Root played a beautiful innings and a brilliant innings. He showed himself to be both complete and replete. He knew this too, because he later called the innings the best he had played in T20.

Kohli made 55 in 37 balls, which might not sound much but it spared blushes. At 23 for 3, India were not the horse to back. Root played the role of diamond geezer on a belter of batting pitch. Kohli found his gem on a deck that was dry and slow and turned. Worse, the ball stuck in the surface, saying to batsmen: come get me if you dare. The pitch was a temptress and not to be trusted. He reined his exhibitionist instincts and instead ran like the wind between the wickets for 19 singles and a two. Later he scored back-to-back boundaries through extra cover off Shahid Afridi, the shots of the day, both elegant and crushing - one punched with the straightest bat, the other flayed with a flat bat and the most powerful wrists in the game.

Virat Kohli makes orthodox batting look thrilling © IDI/Getty Images

After the last of the January short-format matches in Australia, Ian Healy said Kohli was the best batsman he had seen. This was neither tongue in cheek nor literal. It was a teaser, an alert. His point is that Kohli is that good - orthodox, effervescent, cocky and hungry. This is the must-watch Indian batsman of the moment, an irresistible force, and he follows a great line.

Healy might have added that Kohli is the master of the chase. No one better, not close. Heaverages 83 in pursuit of the enemy, close to double his nearest challenger, who is MS Dhoni. That is Bradman stuff, almost doubling the next man. While maintaining 83 runs per innings, he strikes at 130 per 100 balls and has made nine scores of 50-plus in 18 innings. Bradman would have loved the stats, complimenting the sense Kohli gives us of a primal hunter defending his territory.

It is a tragedy that Crowe is not with us. It is a shame he did not see these innings. While we can all watch aghast at Chris Gayle's muscled blows and Martin Guptill's explosive opening acts, they do not linger - at least not for me - as pieces of art. Contemporary batting was waiting for these translations of the textbook. They are a reminder that good technique is relevant and adaptable. Perhaps Root and Kohli have given us the paradigm shift of batting. Perhaps attaching attack to defence has done a 360-degree turn. Perhaps now the skill is attaching defence to attack and applying it to short periods of batting during which survival matters but at relatively little cost.

As these games rush by, leaving only faint impressions, it will be the ability to bat successfully at crucial moments that remain with us. If that achievement comes with the beauty that first ignited our senses, we will begin to see how T20's future can enhance the landscape and touch not just the young and impatient but the old and supposedly wise too.

Back to those final stimulations from Crowe: "Young children were watching, transfixed to the exciting energy... The future of cricket far into the night is safe and sound... T20 created a wave and no one has got off the ride that might well have to sustain the game eternally. With a tweak here and a tweak there..." And he signed off for the last time. Some of those tweaks are the player's responsibility. One of them was made by two young batsmen who proved that cricket in all its guises can satisfy purists and pretenders alike.

Mark Nicholas, the former Hampshire captain, presents the cricket on Channel Nine in Australia and Channel 5 in the UK

South Africa face exit

West Indies secured their spot in the World T20 2016 semi-finals with a third successive win but made hard work of chasing a small target of 123. With just a shave over a run-a-ball needed, West Indies were routinely dragged back, to a point where they needed 20 off the last two overs. However, a solid start from Johnson Charles, a composed innings from Marlon Samuels and a six from Carlos Brathwaite in the final over saw them sneak over the line.

South Africa's bowling attack did their best to make up for the blunders of their batsmen, who had slumped to 47 for 5 in the ninth over before eking over 120. Aaron Phangiso, playing in his first international match in five months and the first since remodeling his action last month, and David Wiese both conceded under six runs to the over, but it was Imran Tahir who kept South Africa in the match. The legspinner gave away only 13 runs in four overs and took two wickets off successive deliveries in the 17th over. In the end, it was not enough and South Africa could exit the tournament before playing their final group match. If England beat Sri Lanka on Saturday, South Africa's campaign will be over.

Unusually for the format, this was a battle of the ball. Batsmen from both sides failed to adjust to the sluggish pace of the pitch but South Africa's line-up were also caught unawares by a surprise addition to West Indies' attack. Chris Gayle proved their nemesis in an unexpected way by removing two of South Africa's top six, and he played his part in pegging them back in the Powerplay, a situation from which they never really recovered.

The match-day pitch was not the same as the one used for the qualifying phase or the game between India and New Zealand, so there was some uncertainty as to what a good score would be. That's why Darren Sammy chose to chase and why South Africa were anxious for every run.

Their desperation showed as early as the third ball when Hashim Amla was run out by Andre Russell, who carried that success to his bowling by dismissing Faf du Plessis, caught by Sulieman Benn at mid-off. Russell also took a catch at point when Rilee Rossouw, promoted to No.4 in his first appearance in the tournament, skied the ball.

South Africa held AB de Villiers back after their initial setbacks and he came in at No.5. He saw the side through to the end of their most meagre Powerplay so far - 39 for 3 compared to scores over 60 in the previous two matches - but could not do too much more.

When Dwayne Bravo, the sixth bowler used by Sammy in the first eight overs, was brought on, de Villiers' innings ended. Sammy sensed South Africa were shaken and brought Gayle back on, with success. He broke through David Miller's defences to leave South Africa at 47 for 5.

That score could have become 59 for 6 had Denesh Ramdin completed a stumping off Benn, who foxed Wiese with a flighted delivery. Wiese had come out of his crease and missed, but Ramdin also missed and the reprieve proved a gift for South Africa.

The Quinton de Kock-Wiese partnership, worth 50 runs for the sixth wicket, was the most profitable of their innings. But the going was tough for the pair. They only found the boundary three times in the 44 balls they were together but, by the time de Kock was bowled around his legs by Russell, they had given South Africa something to work with.

Chris Morris took South Africa over 100 but they could only find eight runs off the last two overs and it did not seem enough until they received some reassurance that it could be.

Kagiso Rabada found late swing with his fifth delivery and beat Gayle to remind West Indies it was not going to be easy. West Indies, however, showed they were up to shifting gears.

They waited until the last ball of the third over for their first boundary, when Andre Fletcher lofted Rabada over midwicket for six. Johnson Charles found the going slightly easier off Chris Morris, whose second over cost 11 runs. In the absence of Dale Steyn and Kyle Abbott, Faf du Plessis recognised the need to try something and turned to spin in the Powerplay.

Tahir was brought on to bowl the fifth over and he proved difficult to get away. Wiese was tasked with doing the same at the other end. Collectively, South Africa frustrated West Indies into trying to steal a single where there wasn't one. Fletcher was halfway to the striker's end in the sixth over when Charles sent him back but, even if he had not slipped, Rossouw's direct hit was always going to beat him.

With the fielding restrictions lifted, South Africa brought on their second specialist spinner, Phangiso. Although he has changed his action, his approach appeared the same and he was typically strangling. Phangiso conceded just one run off his first over and six singles off his second. His third over was headed for a similarly economical result but Charles had had enough. He heaved Phangiso over long-on for six and the pressure dissipated.

Charles' aggression did not serve him well a second time. When he swiped at Wiese three balls later, he only managed to sky the ball to du Plessis at cover and the tension was back.

Du Plessis wanted more wickets and brought Rabada back. He started with a leg-side half-volley that Bravo flicked for four. That was followed up by two similar deliveries to Samuels, who carved one over point and then played an upper-cut to third man. West Indies scored 14 off that over to bring the required run rate to under six.

South Africa switched to squeeze mode again. Phangiso's final over cost only three and included Bravo's wicket. West Indies needed 36 off six overs but Samuels was still there. With Andre Russell, he took eight off the next over before du Plessis played his strongest hand.

Tahir's final over - the 17th of the innings - could have seen Samuels dismissed off the first ball but the bowler could not hold on to the return catch. Three balls later, Russell holed out and, the next ball, Sammy was bowled off a googly. Advantage South Africa. The next over - Wiese's final - cost just three. Advantage South Africa. Even though Samuels was still there with West Indies needing 20 off the last two overs.

He hit the first ball of Morris' final over through third man for four and, off the fourth ball, found the same area with the same result. Then he skied the ball. Still advantage South Africa.

Rabada was asked to defend nine off the final over and started with a slower ball. Brathwaite hit the second ball for a six to break the tension, and West Indies completed the win with two balls to spare.

waston

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Shane Watson: "After I announced my retirement, over the last day it's been reminiscing a bit more. It's the first time I really sat back and really looked at my career and the different highlights." © Getty Images

Chandigarh is not an easy place to remember; it is nigh impossible to tell one sector of its grid-based layout from another. Shane Watson can. He has vivid memories of being here to play cricket in Mohali. He had scored a high-quality Test century here, but ended up losing that match, one of the greatest Tests played in India. More vividly, though, he remembers being sent back home midway during Australia's next tour of India. Now he and his team fight to make sure his international career doesn't end in Mohali. They want it to go to Mumbai, and then Kolkata.

"It's a good thing we're not staying in the JW Marriott because I've got a bad memory of one of those rooms in particular there so that's given me some nice memories coming back to Mohali," Watson said, looking back at the disastrous tour of India four years ago. "But yeah that wasn't really one of my high points, being suspended from a Test match for not doing my homework that I didn't realise I had to do."

In his press conference before the start of Australia's knockouts - they meet Indian in a virtual quarter-final - Watson sounded a lot more relaxed than what most of the players with their modern media training do. He joked about the homeworkgate, about the time they sledged Virat Kohli at MCG, but he himself dropped Kohli two balls later, about how perhaps Ajinkya Rahane can replace Kohli when asked third time if he felt his IPL team-mate Rahane merited a place in the Indian XI. It could perhaps be down to the relief that getting such a big announcement out of the way brings.

"No, not really [if anything had changed since the announcement]," Watson said. "Apart from just really making the most of these last few games that I've got. After I announced my retirement, over the last day it's been reminiscing a bit more. It's the first time I really sat back and really looked at my career and the different highlights.

"Even from a young age, the age of 20, I've got so many incredible memories. It really is the first time in my whole career that I've had the chance to just spend some time thinking about how incredibly lucky and fortunate I've been and the amazing things I've been fortunate enough to be able to experience throughout my career. That's more the last day I've been experiencing. Just making the most of playing these last few games, because I know how much of a privilege it's been to be able to play for my country, and I'm going to make the most of these last few games."

Shane Watson: "Look, in the end, I'm very happy to just be playing. I have been very fortunate to be able to play for my country for a number of years." © Getty Images

It could be the last few or the last. The familiar foes, India, will start as favourites despite three cagey performances: they have got the bowlers to exploit the slow pitch in Mohali, and they also have the recent upper hand through beating Australia 3-0 in the T20Is in Australia earlier this year. Watson, though, said the Australian T20 side has improved a lot since then.

"We've got a very different team to those games we played," Watson said. "We went through quite a few players throughout those three games. Now we've been a bit more settled as a unit. That's a great starting point for us compared to India, who have been just about the same team all the way through so they certainly know their roles very well within the batting unit and the bowling unit. For us to be able to click [against Pakistan] as a batting and bowling unit that's a great thing and the most important thing going into a knockout game so I've got no doubt India are going to be very wary of what we do."

Watson is aware of India's strength at home, though, and hoped that Australia would prevail in the mental contest that all knockout matches are. "In big games it really comes down to your mental approach more than anything else," he said. "Your skills don't change, and the biggest challenge mentally is to be able to try and hold your nerve when the pressure comes on, which is certainly going to happen in a knockout game.

"India has quite a lot of expectations, quite a few people who follow the game here compared to back home in Australia so there's a little bit more expectation on the Indian team compared to the Australian team, but both teams want to win. It's such a big tournament for everyone, for all of the international sides, especially a knockout game. It really just comes down to how you hold your nerve, and the good thing is, recently in the one-day World Cup we certainly did that at home. We also know that India did it very well at home in 2011 as well, and they've got quite a few of the same players so it's going to be a great game."

For Australia, Watson's flexibility has been a big asset. They had tried David Warner in the middle order, but it is Watson, with his experience of batting in the middle order in the IPL, who has given them what they might feel is the ideal batting order. Against Pakistan, after two games of Warner in the middle, Watson batted at No. 6, and scored 44 not out off 21 to provide their innings the impetus. Asked if that was the way to go for Australia, Watson said: "Our batting clicked, that's for sure. In the end I know with the experience that I've had batting in a lot of different spots throughout my career, I am the most versatile batsmen in our line-up, to be able to move up and down the order.

"So whatever was required for the selectors and the captain to feel that they wanted certain guys in certain positions, it certainly worked today there is no doubt about that. Look, in the end, I'm very happy to just be playing. I have been very fortunate to be able to play for my country for a number of years."

India win by one run

How did it come to this?

After 39.3 overs of a pulsating contest in Bangalore, Bangladesh seemed to have a first ever T20I victory against India in their grasp. Two runs needed off three balls, with Mushfiqur Rahim on strike. The game should have been done and dusted, and India were staring at an early exit in the World Twenty20 in their own backyard.

However, Bangladesh proceeded to remarkably offer India a way back into the game, with Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah both being caught in the leg-side boundary off Hardik Pandya. Two needed off one, and suddenly, it was Bangladesh feeling the heat.

Pandya ran in for the final delivery, bowled outside Shuvagata Hom's reach, and MS Dhoni, who had earlier pulled off an outrageous stumping to dismiss the dangerous Sabbir Rahman, ran in 15 yards with one glove and ran out Mustafizur Rahman, who had only just walked into the cauldron.

The one-run win keeps India in their hunt for a place in the last four, with a match against Australia coming up. Bangladesh were heartbroken, having done all the hard work, but falling short by a few inches, quite literally.

Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled a superb third over after a poor start with the ball, gave away just six frantic singles in the penultimate over, leaving Pandya to defend ten runs, which he did only just.

Mushfiqur blasted the second ball for a boundary through the covers after Mahmudullah took a single off the first ball. Mushfiqur then got a second four off his bat handle while attempting a scoop, but he was caught at midwicket off the next ball, with Bangladesh needing two to win off the last two balls. Mahmudullah, who changed ends, fell in similar fashion, betraying his coolness under pressure, but Ravindra Jadeja still had to do extremely well to hold on to the catch.

The rest of the Bangladesh innings was just as frantic. Bumrah misfielded off the first ball and conceded a four; Tamim Iqbal, the batsman who hit the shot, had his eye on the ball and bumped into Ashish Nehra. Tamim needed medical attention and in the same over, he was dropped by Nehra off his own bowling.

Mohammad Mithun holed out at long-on in the third over before Tamim got another life in the next, this time seeing Bumrah drop a sitter at short fine-leg. Sabbir crashed Ashwin soon after, and Tamim took four boundaries off Bumrah, whose line and lengths went awry. Tamim eventually was stumped for 35 in the eighth over. Sabbir, who added couple of more boundaries, was smartly stumped by Dhoni for 26 off 15 balls.

Mashrafe Mortaza promoted himself to No. 5 and started off with a huge six over long-off but the gamble lasted just five balls. There was more madness to come - Shakib was dropped by Ashwin at the deep cover boundary on 8, and he made the most of the reprieve, nailing two sixes on the leg-side. Ashwin had the last laugh, though, getting him caught at slip in his last over. Shakib's 22 off 15 balls was crucial but so too was his dismissal as he got out at a moment when he was timing the ball very well.

Mashrafe seemed to have risen out of his distress over Taskin Ahmed's suspension by bowling a superb four-over spell in which he did not concede a single four or a six for the first time in his career. His captaincy, to use sweepers on both sides of the wicket from the start and bowling changes, was also spot-on. He was backed wholeheartedly by Shakib's four strong overs, while Mustafizur and Al-Amin Hossain took two wickets each.

India could not get off to a good start after their openers were spooked by Shuvagata Hom's initial turn. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had to settle for singles before they struck a six each in the sixth over. Mustafizur had Rohit skying a flick which was caught at midwicket, in the same over. Shakib then trapped Dhawan, who was looking to sweep in the next over, meaning India had two new batsmen having to get settled on a tricky surface.

One of those batsmen was Virat Kohli, fresh off a fine match-winning knock against Pakistan. Here, though, he stuttered through his run-a-ball 24, during which Al-Amin dropped a difficult caught- and-bowled chance in the 11th over. Suresh Raina, who top-scored with 30 off 23 balls, broke a boundary drought that lasted five overs, with a couple of sixes off Al-Amin in the same over.

Kohli got his first six in the 14th over but Hom kept his nerve by bowling the next one full and on the stumps. Kohli missed, and Bangladesh were back in the game by getting India's main man and breaking the 50-run third wicket stand.

Pandya blasted 15 off seven balls before he was brilliantly caught on the square-leg boundary by a fully diving Soumya Sarkar. Al-Amin also accounted for Raina in the same over, ensuring India's slog overs did not go to plan. The hosts managed only 34 runs in the last five overs, with the first 19 balls in that sequence going without a boundary.

In the Asia Cup final, Dhoni had blasted 20 off the penultimate over to all but seal India's win. India's captain was not as explosive with the bat here, but his 13 crucial runs, cunning stumpings and cool run-out with one glove on, made the difference between the two teams.

The night will be remembered in Bangalore for a very, very long time.

Jasprit Bumrah - Held is nerve

Jasprit Bumrah held his nerve on a stressful night and, although he went relatively unnoticed, that helped to pave the way to India's win

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Play

Fine leg, first over, first ball of the innings. A clip around the corner, a routine stop. Jasprit Bumrah runs around, bends down, lets the ball come to him, and lets it slip through his fingers and roll into the boundary cushions.

Short fine leg, fifth over of the innings. An offbreak that turns and jumps, a top-edged sweep. Bumrah steadies himself under the ball, lets it fall into his hands, and sees it bounce out.

Other cricketers might slump to the earth, swear at themselves, kick the ground, or fling their caps away. Bumrah just stands there, staring straight ahead. He always wears a quiet and earnest expression, and it doesn't really change that much.

But the same expression can take on entirely different meanings in different situations, as the Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov demonstrated a century ago, with the same shot of an expressionless actor juxtaposed in turn against shots of a bowl of soup, a child in a coffin, and a woman sprawled languorously on a couch.

Bumrah stares straight ahead, quietly and earnestly.

Tamim Iqbal is the beneficiary of both the misfield and the dropped catch. It is Bumrah's fate to bowl the next over, and Tamim charges him first ball, gets a bit of width, and slaps him away through point. Then he opens his shoulders to a full ball and pastes it down the ground for another four. Last ball of the over, he jumps out of his crease again. It's a shortish ball that cramps him for room and hurries him. The attempted pull shoots in an unintended direction, through the off side. But the unintended direction is a gap, between short extra cover and mid-off. Four more.

Sixteen runs come off that over, the sixth of Bangladesh's innings, and they are 45 for 1 at the end of it. They are nicely on course for their target of 147.

The misfield, the dropped catch, and the streaky off-side pull are emblematic of a match where cause and consequence are hard to match up. Over the next few overs, Sabbir Rahman grabs 26 off 15 balls with nearly every run coming off the edges of his bat. R Ashwin drops a catch running in from sweeper cover. Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan swat a couple of sixes. A couple of wickets go down as well, but everything else seems to be falling Bangladesh's way.

At the 12-over mark, they need 52 off 48 balls with six wickets in hand. Easy-peasy.

The first act of redemption is Ashwin's: an over of jaw-dropping quality, an over of flight, dip and vicious turn. He gets Shakib caught at slip first ball, an outside edge from a forward defensive in a T20 match. Then he rips the ball past Soumya Sarkar's bat three times in four balls.

Fifty two from 48 is now 51 from 42. Not so easy-peasy now.

The equation is down to 34 from 24, with five wickets in hand, when Bumrah comes back into the attack. His figures, at this point, are 2-0-19-0.

Bumrah. Gangly, awkward Bumrah with the quiet, earnest expression. He is a good bowler, hits the deck and cramps the right-handers with awkward bounce. At the death he can bowl the yorker. Against New Zealand, he bowled five of them in a row, three to the left-handed Corey Anderson, the third ripping out middle stump, and two to the right-handed Grant Elliott.

But India were bowling first that day, and New Zealand were stuttering on a difficult pitch. Now the scoreboard favours Bangladesh, and Bumrah is coming back from a misfield, a spilled sitter and an expensive second over.

The first ball is very full, though not quite in the blockhole, and Sarkar clips it away for two. Sarkar makes room next ball, exposes his stumps, and has to plonk his bat down in a hurry to protect them from a pinpoint yorker and squeeze the ball away for a single. The out-of-form opener, demoted to No. 7, is now off strike. On strike now is the fluent, in-form Mahmudullah.

Bumrah spears in another yorker, the best of the over, angling in and denying room to a batsman who likes to open his bat face and steer the ball either side of point. All Mahmudullah can do is jam his bat down and stop the ball from hitting the stumps.

The next ball is in the blockhole again, but just a touch wider, and it is a reminder to Bumrah of the minimal margin for error. Mahmudullah angles his bat face just so, and a sprawling Yuvraj Singh, diving from backward point, manages to get a fingertip to it and deflect it towards the fielder at sweeper cover and keep it down to two runs.

Next ball, Mahmudullah doesn't give himself room. He steps across his stumps instead, looking for the gaps either side of or over short fine leg. Bumrah's missile homes in on the base of off stump, and doesn't give the batsman any angle to work with. Mahmudullah manufactures a whipped single through square leg.

Last ball of the over, and Bumrah zeroes in on the blockhole again. Sarkar tries to use the angle across him to steer the ball past short third man. He only gets a glancing touch on it, and MS Dhoni, diving to his left, can't take the catch behind the wicket.

Still, only seven from the over, and Bumrah has kept India in the game. Bangladesh need 27 from the last three overs. Ashish Nehra gives them only six from his first five balls, but Mahmudullah, calm, crisp Mahmudullah, puts the last one away, an inch-perfect drive to the right of sweeper cover.

It is now down to 17 off the last 12 balls. Here is Bumrah again.

The yorker is a difficult ball to bowl. Overpitch it, it's a full-toss. Underpitch it, it's a half-volley. And that's with a batsman standing still. A batsman moving away from his stumps or across them, stepping down the pitch or deep into his crease, is another variable entirely.

The yorker also takes a lot of effort, an extra thrust of taut arm and tiring shoulder.

For all these reasons, Bumrah's fourth over isn't as good as his third. But if he overpitches, he only does so to the extent of bowling hard-to-hit low full-tosses. If he underpitches, he still bowls it full enough to deny any elevation or room for a full, free swing of the bat. He sends down six balls, all there or thereabouts, and gives away six singles. It is not the perfect over, but it's a bloody good one.

Bumrah finishes with figures of 4-0-32-0. They are unremarkable at first glance, even ordinary, and they do not say anything about the match he has had. They do not reveal how he has kept India in the game. Neither does his face. On it, as always, is a quiet and earnest expression.