When the world spoke of the other Kevin

At 111-5 and chasing 328 to win, one would not like to put the money on the batting team. And certainly not if the batting team is Ireland. And definitely not if the opposition is a formidable English side. But then there are people who have different ideas. Kevin O’Brien did.

At the M Chinnaswamy stadium at Bengaluru, Kevin O’ Brien did what otherwise would have been something impossible for the human mind to achieve. He came out to bat there with only one intention, of winning the match. There was no point in pushing and prodding around and getting a nice little half century. What he saw and which no one of us did was what lay in store beyond that. The moment he stepped on to the field to bat, he had decided that he would go for the kill and in the process played an innings that has to go down as one of the greatest ever World Cup knocks.

Kevin certainly did not clobber the English attack. He massacred them. 13 fours and 6 sixes being an evidence of that and going on to get the fastest century ever in a World Cup off 50 balls beating that of Mathew Hayden that had come in 66 balls . The innings was something that the likes of Kevin Pietersen can only dream to play. The best part about his batting was it was a chanceless innings. His sixes were clean, the only way the boundary rider could catch it was if he was in the stands.

It doesn’t get bigger, does it? Kevin’s innings was power reminiscent of Kieron Pollard but with a calmer head and better technique. What he knew very well was as they were getting closer to victory, the only thing the Irish needed was him to stay out there and not give away his wicket. And he managed to do this till the penultimate over and got out in the most appropriate way in the form of a run out. England would not have been able to get him out in any other way.

Partnerships play a vital role in any match and in Cusack, Kevin found an ideal partner who was willing to weather the storm right till the end. The match changing partnership of 162 meanwhile also raised a totally different debate of what total is safe for the team batting first and how and when the powerplay’s should be used . The Irish pair compiled 62 runs in the 5 allotted overs of power play and this breathed life into the Irish innings. And probably life into the 2011World Cup!

England ran India close, and managed to get a point out of it. But against Ireland, they ran into Kevin O’Brien and the rest is history.