Mumbai: Punjab Kings all-rounder Odean Smith’s pyrotechnics against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have earned him a huge following, with fans going all out to praise his unbeaten 25-run cameo, which came off just eight deliveries and helped his side win their opening game by five wickets.
Shahrukh Khan (24) and Smith’s (25) power hitting down the order helped Punjab Kings chase down the imposing 205-run target with one over to spare.
The 25-year-old Smith, who came in when things were starting to slow down, made his intent clear when the equation had come to 36 needed off 18 balls. The Jamaican was at 2 (3 balls), but in the next five legal deliveries Smith faced, he changed the course of the game.
The 18th over, bowled by Mohammed Siraj changed the complexion of the game, with the West Indian slamming 23 off the 25 runs that came from it.
The over read: 6, wide, 4, 6, 1, 1 bye, 6. Shahrukh Khan orchestrated the leg bye single, Mohammed Siraj erred with a wide, but the four other boundaries that came from Smith’s bat were confident, powerful shots.
With that over, Smith turned the tables on RCB, with Punjab Kings needing just 11 off the next 12 balls, which was achieved with ease.
One of the fans drew a comparison between Odean Smith’s and former West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite’s innings during the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup final, which the West Indies won defeating England.
The Barbados-born Brathwaite had smashed four consecutive sixes off England’s Ben Stokes in the last over that propelled the Caribbean side to the title.
The feat prompted commentator Ian Bishop to demand viewers watching coverage around the world get to know Brathwaite with the line “Carlos Brathwaite, Carlossss Brathwaite… Remember the name.”
A fan wrote in twitter, “Andddddddddd it’s odean smith remember the name”.
Another fan wrote, “And some people thought that this was just a one match show for IPL auctions… surely Odean Smith is now laughing on all of them.”
“Odean Smith is absolute beast … In West Indies & now in IPL #RCBvPBKS,” tweeted another fan.
