But in T20 cricket, anything’s possible, and when Bangar hit two sixes in a row, the equation had become a gettable six off two balls. Kumble managed to hold his nerve though, as the Royal Challengers won by three runs after Hyderabad’s chase fell apart in the last three overs. The visitors seemed on course to overhaul Bangalore’s 156 — they needed 29 runs off 18 deliveries with seven wickets still in hand.

Laxman was batting on a composed 51 and Shahid Afridi had just joined him in the middle. A flurry of wickets — three in the next seven deliveries, including two dodgy leg-before decisions — changed the course of the match.

On a day when the ball dominated at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Dale Steyn gave away just 20 runs in his four overs, as did Zaheer Khan, who also picked up a couple of wickets. Praveen Kumar played key-wrecker in Hyderabad’s chase, finishing with 3-23.

Tough going