The way to the Wankhede offers several clues that hint at the likely reason for the journey. The journey southward, that is, on Marine Drive, just after Chowpatty Beach sprawls on the right between the Arabian Sea and, to the left, the city teeming with life, love and everything else.
Crammed cheek by jowl in barely more than a kilometre from the stadium are the Catholic Gymkhana, the Police Gymkhana, the Islam Gymkhana, the PJ Hindu Gymkhana, and the Parsi Gymkhana. All offer evidence of what has become that most Indian, but not exclusively Indian, of things: cricket.
At some of these places there are nets, at others fully-fledged grounds, at still others both of the above as well as floodlights. Go past them at any time, it seems, and you will see, at the least, pitches being rolled or stumps being pitched in anticipation. More often a match is in progress.
The sight of these cameos to different cultures and cricket – in that order – lined up as if for passersby’s edification makes a powerful statement. It is that the game’s current home address is not Lord’s or Dubai or anywhere else but India. If you disagree, continue past the Wankhede for less than a kilometre and see the arrestingly gracious Brabourne, the art deco heritage building that houses the Cricket Club of India, no less. The members are notoriously anti-cricket; they complain about not being permitted to stroll around the ground of an evening during matches. You know something has leapt all boundaries when the fogeys take a dim view.
And a good thing, too. Had Tuesday’s men’s World Cup match between Bangladesh and South Africa been played at the Brabourne the venerable members might have had multiple injuries heaped onto the perceived insult of being prevented from using their facilities as they wish.
Quinton de Kock shared stands of 131 off 137 with Aiden Markram and 142 off 87 with Heinrich Klaasen, who helped David Miller add 65 off 25. Markram made a measured 60 off 69, but Miller – given licence to thrill by coming to the crease in the 46th – let fly at a strike rate of 226.66 for his unbeaten 34. That added up to 382/5, a total boosted by the at times inept bowling of Bangladesh’s toothless tigers.
South Africa have made more than 300 in all four matches at the tournament in which they have batted first. Two of those efforts were bigger than Tuesday’s. All of 144 runs flew off the last 10 overs. Only in two of those overs were the bowlers able to keep the damage down to single figures. In the most expensive of them Shakib Al Hasan was welcomed back rudely after missing the match against India in Pune on Thursday with a quadriceps injury. De Kock hit him for two sixes and as many fours, and the over went for 22.
De Kock’s 174 made him the tournament’s leading runscorer with 408 after five trips to the crease. His innings on Tuesday is the highest score in the 25 ODIs played at the Wankhede and his third century at this tournament, which puts him on par with Mark Waugh, Sourav Ganguly, Matthew Hayden and David Warner for hundreds made in a single edition of a World Cup. Another and De Kock will match Kumar Sangakkara’s performance in 2015. Two more and he will be up there with Rohit Sharma in 2019.
When more than three-quarters of an innings hurtles into being in fours and sixes, as De Kock’s did, it can be difficult to parse single strokes from the glittering mass. But the vicious straight drive for four in the 44th that had the bowler, Shoriful Islam, ducking for cover will stick in the mind. Not least in Shoriful’s mind.
“You never want to clip his wings; you just want to let him fly,” Markram, who stood in as captain for Temba Bavuma, who also missed Saturday’s game against England at the same venue, said of De Kock. A couple of spectators in the crowd of 14,068 held up a hand-written sign: “De Kock please don’t retire after this World Cup!!!” Zizi Kodwa, South Africa’s minister of sport, concurred by posting a photograph of the scene on social media and captioning it: “I support this call! Please think about it Quinny.”
When De Kock reached three figures for the first time at a World Cup, against Sri Lanka in Delhi on October 7, he bellowed a belligerent celebration. On Tuesday he removed his helmet demurely and raised his bat almost sheepishly. Mumbai’s weather – 35 degrees with 60% humidity on Tuesday – can do that to you.
How big a factor were the elements in South Africa choosing to bat first, thus avoiding being out in the heat until the sun had set? “Today it wasn’t as hot as for the England game, but it was still hot,” Markram said. “And 50 overs is a long time to be in the field whether it’s hot or not; it takes quite a bit out of you. There is that advantage, especially when conditions are on the hot side. It’s not the sole reason why we ended up batting first but it can give you a slight advantage.”
Heinrich Klaasen felt the fire up close and personal on Saturday, when his 109 helped South Africa inflict England’s heaviest defeat in ODIs, by 229 runs. When he wasn’t thrashing the bowling Klaasen was on his haunches trying to preserve his last reserves of energy. How would he cope being out there again three days later? Well enough to run 34 of his 49-ball 90 in ones and twos. The rest was made up of two fours and eight sixes; almost two-thirds of his score.
Klaasen seemed bound to make a second century before heaving a catch to the cover boundary off Hasan Mahmud with five deliveries left in the innings. Even so, South Africa have scored six of the 19 hundreds in the tournament. That’s 10% of the personnel making just less than a third of the big runs.
After his innings on Saturday, Klaasen was exhausted enough to not take the field during England’s reply. He batted for 99 minutes on Tuesday, but De Kock was there for 199 minutes. Those 100 minutes of separation meant there was a question over which of the two specialist wicketkeepers would be behind the stumps when play resumed. This time De Kock was given the night off, and Klaasen kept with verve.
Bangladesh, no doubt drained of focus as well as fitness by their pummelling in the heat, shambled to 81/6 in 22 overs. Shakib’s flop of a comeback was complete when he edged a drive to the fourth ball he faced – bowled by Lizaad Williams, who made his World Cup debut in place of Lungi Ngidi and his knee niggle – and was caught behind for one.
It was clear Bangladesh wouldn’t win, but would they stave off acquiring or sharing the record for the worst defeat in a World Cup game – Afghanistan’s 275-run hammering by Australia in Perth in 2015? They snuck past that danger in the 28th, and the rest of their innings disappeared in the haze of another muggy Mumbai night.
They were put out of their misery for 233 in 46.4 to spiral to their fourth loss in five matches. Mahmudullah raised a pyrrhic cheer from the crowd when he reached his fifth ODI century in the 45th. His run-a-ball 111 endured through five partnerships and was a marvel of slick footwork and ripping power, but it is unlikely to be recalled outside of Bangladesh.
On gymkhana row they had probably been talking about other, better, closer, more engaging contests for hours. And, perhaps, about how any team could stop South Africa – played five, won four – from here.
