It was turning out to be another forgettable outing for Amit Mishra. In Kochi, the leg-spinner had gone for 72 runs, more than any other bowler in the match. In Delhi, less than midway through his quota of overs, the leg-spinner seemed well on his way to match that figure, with Pollard having dumped him in the stands twice in the space of four balls. To be sure, there was turn in the pitch, but the ball was wet and difficult to grip. In spite of that, and the sixes, Mishra kept tossing it up.

From the outside it looked like an exercise in futility. As if someone was throwing mud at the wall diligently, hoping that some of it will stick. Then, on the fifth ball of the 28th over, it stuck. Pollard, who had made a fluent 40 and together with Dwayne Smith taken West Indies to 136/1, bent down and tried to again slog a Mishra leg-break out of the park. He only managed to drag it onto his stumps. It was a lucky break, but without Mishra’s courage, it wouldn’t have happened.

“Amit Mishra’s contribution was crucial again as he was willing to flight the ball, despite getting hit,” captain MS Dhoni acknowledged later. “Once the ball gets wet or there is no turn, Ravindra Jadeja does not flight the ball. That is why I used Mishra more.”

After the wicket, the leggie was a changed bowler. Pollard’s dismissal brought last match’s centurion Marlon Samuels on to the pitch. In their last duel, Samuels had comfortably come out on top, plundering 40 runs off Mishra’s 28 balls. For both the Indian team and bowler, the in-form right-hander posed a big threat. What happened next was the exact opposite of their last meeting. Mishra bowled 16 dot balls on the bounce to Samuels, a passage of play that set in some sort of panic in the West Indies team.

If there was any single turning point in the match, it was this. Samuels would eventually hit a six off Mishra in the next over, but would perish soon off a Umesh Yadav ball. Mishra, however, wasn’t done yet. He then plotted the downfall of Kochi’s second hero, Denesh Ramdin. The bowler tossed another leg-break which Ramdin tried to defend. It took a thick outside edge and Suresh Raina took a low diving catch at first slip. Mishra’s spell was over, but its effects were not. Having used up Mishra, Dhoni brought back Jadeja, who all but mopped up the tail.