After his starring role in the IPL final, allrounder reveals he feared he'd miss the tournament entirely
Cutting soars from sickbed to starring role
After his stunning player of the match performance for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL final, Ben Cutting has revealed he almost didn’t make it on the field at all this season.
After arriving in India in early April, the Brisbane Heat and Queensland allrounder spent the early part of the tournament bed-ridden due to illness.
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He had almost given up hope of featuring for the Sunrisers at all, before being called in for their clash with Kings XI Punjab on May 15.
Despite having not played a competitive match for more than two months, Sunrisers selectors rushed him into the XI as soon as he was fit, due to the closeness of the competition and the faith they had in Cutting’s ability.
"A couple of weeks ago I was really sick and I didn’t leave my bed for 10 days and didn’t think I was playing IPL this season, to get the last couple of games and then finish with in the final was really pleasing," Cutting said after Hyderabad’s eight-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.
After a few unhappy ventures with the bat Cutting was brutal in the final, smashing 39 from just 15 balls.
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Boasting a career strike-rate of 152 in the T20 game, Cutting’s late assault on countryman Shane Watson was pivotal in taking the Sunrisers to a total of 208.
"It was good to get out there and swing a few for the boys. It has been a couple of lean games with the bat so it was nice to do it when it counted."
The high altitude and small dimensions of the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore means even mistimed shots can sail over the ropes. But each of Cutting’s four sixes hit right in the sweet spot and kept disappearing into the second tier, while one measuring a distance of 117m went over the roof.
"That is the beautiful thing about Bangalore, the sixes stay hit and you can go the journey with the bat and with the ball."
While Cutting was one the bowlers to feel the full brunt of Chris Gayle’s electrifying innings of 76 from 38 balls, the Queenslander had the last laugh when he dismissed Gayle, breaking the 114-run stand between him and Virat Kohli.
It proved a match-defining moment, as Royal Challengers subsequently lost 7-86 as Cutting and his fellow bowlers choked the Bangalore batsmen.
"When Gayle is in that sort of mood and when he has someone like Kohli with him, it is pretty hard to control them especially, in Bangalore with the ground so small and the outfield lightning quick.
"So we had to try different things and while some worked the others didn’t. But that’s the nature of T20 cricket. It will be up and down all 20 over and we saw how a wicket can change the game."
While Cutting might have walked away with the man-of-the-match trophy, he was all praise for Sunrisers skipper David Warner.
"For the last eight weeks he has been fantastic.
"I’ve come in at the end but Davey has been there right from the start and he is one of the prime reasons we made it here tonight. The way he captains and runs his troops is inspirational.
"From a personal point of view to be able to perform on such a big stage is very satisfying."