‘He’s a big reason why we’ve been winning’ — Eshan Malinga, the one bowler who didn’t bleed

In a 492-run feast at Wankhede, while bowlers from both sides bled, SRH's Eshan Malinga bowled four overs for 29.

In a game where the bat ruled so completely that a 243 chase was completed with eight balls to spare, one bowling figure stood apart: Eshan Malinga, 4-0-29-1. Economy 7.20. In this carnage, that is not a statistic. It is a different discipline entirely.

Between them, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 492 runs on Tuesday night. MI posted 243. SRH chased it down in 18.4 overs. Bowlers from both sides bled — Bumrah 54 in four overs for MI, Boult 41, Ghazanfar 51. For SRH, Praful Hinge went for 54, Harsh Dubey 50 in three, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31 in two.

Malinga stood apart.

He came on in the third over with MI already 37 without loss. He started with the off-cutter on leg-stump — Rickelton pushed it back. Then the slower ball outside leg, seeing Rickelton move away, beating the inside edge. The over cost six. In a game where overs were going for 15 and 16, six was almost an act of defiance.

He came back in the eighth, MI 110 for one and accelerating. His first two balls found Suryakumar Yadav — back of a length on leg-stump, SKY missed the pull, hit on the thigh pad. Then a short delivery outside off, dragged to mid-on. Then the short ball at the badge on the head. Suryakumar went for the pull, was in two minds, got it high on the bat. Abhishek Sharma ran to his left at fine leg and took it comfortably. Five runs and a wicket. SKY’s poor run continued.

The twelfth over — MI 156 for two, Rickelton and Naman Dhir building. Fuller this time, angling in, varying lengths. Six singles and a wide. No boundary, no over-pitched gift, no free hit.

The seventeenth was the examination. Hardik Pandya at the crease, MI needing to push. First ball: a yorker, missed by an inch, Hardik clubs it over long-on for six. Malinga responded. A wide — the slower short ball looping past the pull. A yorker back, driven for two. Another slower short ball, another wide. The yorker again, Hardik misses the squeeze entirely. A miscued pull to close. Thirteen runs including two wides, but Hardik never quite got away.

Pat Cummins was precise afterwards. “Bowlers — and really good bowlers — like Eshan in our team, he’s a big reason why we’ve been winning these games. You can still have a huge impact.” The purple cap confirmed it.

The action is the explanation. Not the Malinga tribute act — not Pathirana’s slinger, not Tushara’s round-arm. Eshan’s action sits slightly round-arm but that is not his weapon. His weapon is what the action enables. When the ball is ready, the action drops a fraction lower. The seam angles toward fine leg. The ball tails in. What arrives is reverse-swing generated not despite the action but because of it.

The slower ball is its own thing. Upright seam, rotating like an off-break, the seam directed toward fine leg. When it lands on the seam there is bounce. When it doesn’t, there is skid. Most importantly, he seems to know when to bowl which ball.