Bhuvneshwar keeps his head when others lose it

There is a man hitting everything that moves. He might as well be in a western. On a pitch where even David Warner struggles to hit balls cleanly - batting through the innings for a strike rate of just 130 - Manan Vohra has connected almost everything cleanly. He scores 95 at a strike rate of 190 on a pitch where only 313 are scored in 40 overs. He has not only not allowed Rashid Khan a wicket in his first over, but he has also hit the flavour of the season for his most expensive over, and then gone ahead and bettered that over.

To keep his head when all around him are losing theirs turns up Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with figures of 2-0-7-2 and the purple cap on his head. He has taken a minimum of two wickets in each of the IPL matches so far, but he now knows he needs to at least double that tally. This is over 17, and Vohra has looted the last two overs for 41 runs, more than a quarter of the whole target. They now need just 35 in four overs, and Sunrisers seem they have forgotten this is a slow pitch on which stroke-making is not easy.

Bhuvneshwar comes back, and slowly reminds them, with a slower ball, getting Mohit Sharma caught at deep point. He tries a yorker next ball, but Vohra is quicker out of the holster. Bhuvneshwar goes to the slower ball, and this time Shikhar Dhawan drops a sitter. Bhuvneshwar keeps his head and pulls back two dots with slower balls to KC Cariappa. It's only 28 of 20, but Bhuvneshwar is keeping the lesser batsman on strike.

In the 19th over, with only 16 required, Bhuvneshwar concedes just five runs and takes two wickets to break Vohra's heart and turn it Sunrisers' way decidedly.

When you see the kind of hitting Vohra was indulging in, when you see him dropped twice, you can tend to resign. Bhuvneshwar, though, came back stronger from that drop. He saw Vohra was in that rare zone where he was connecting even the slower ones sweetly - first ball of the 18th over for example, when he pulled Siddarth Kaul over long-on. Bhuvneshwar and David Warner planned in the next over. They decided they needed a dead-eye yorker. Give him a single and keep the other man on strike, or get him out. On the third ball, Bhuvneshwar came up with a good'un, swinging in late, and headed for the base of the middle stump. Vohra gone. Match gone.

Stats that matter

"Look at Bhuvi. Fantastic death bowling. Upfront swing. Unbelievable. I could count on him. I back all my bowlers, but when you have Bhuvi in the shed, you have got to use him."
A grateful captain, David Warner

"Athletes often talk about believing in themselves. That is what I did. I have overcome that pressure. Because I have been doing this job for three-four years. I knew I had to bowl the 19th over."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar knows he is good