A single googly that changed the mood of a chase
One ball. That’s all it took for Varun Chakravarthy to grab the game by the collar in Dubai. New Zealand’s chase of 250 had been steady, not flashy. Will Young looked settled on 22. Then came a perfectly disguised googly in the 12th over—pitched outside off, drifted, gripped, and spun back hard. Young’s inside edge couldn’t save him. The ball clattered into the stumps. New Zealand were 49/2, and the tone shifted.
The dismissal was textbook deception. Chakravarthy kept his arm speed up, hid the seam, and used the dry surface to bring the ball back sharply into the right-hander. Young had played the line, not the turn, and paid for it. There was no celebration over the top, just a knowing nod from a bowler who lives on small margins and split-second misreads.
India handed Chakravarthy a start as a tactical switch, resting Harshit Rana and leaning on an extra spinner for this contest. That move was more than a hunch. He had impressed against England across formats in the build-up, enough to earn a late call into the 15 for this 50-over tournament. The bet paid off immediately.
New Zealand weren’t out of it at 49/2, not with time and wickets in hand. But Young’s exit exposed the middle, and the chase started to grind. Singles became edgy. Risk shots stayed holstered. In a chase of 250, that’s the hidden cost of a wicket like this one—you don’t just lose runs, you lose rhythm.
Chakravarthy kept pushing. His lengths stayed teasing—just short enough to draw the back foot, just full enough to make the drive a gamble. The Dubai pitch, which often looks flat from the stands, offered grip if you hit the seam. He did, over and over. By the time his spell was done, he had a five-wicket haul, and New Zealand had spent most of their innings guessing which way the ball would go.
There was nothing freakish about it. This is his method. He plays ambush cricket—same run-up, consistent release, and variations that arrive a fraction later than batters expect. The googly to Young captured the essence: control first, surprise second.
Selection gamble, UAE conditions, and why this spell matters
Picking a specialist spinner in place of a seamer always raises questions, especially in a day-night game where dew can neutralize grip. India’s think tank read the surface and the matchup. New Zealand’s top order leans right-handed, and Dubai’s square boundaries can reward leg-side misreads. That combination made a mystery spinner a smart play.
Chakravarthy’s recent workload helped. He came in with form, not just reputation. Against England, he worked over batters with angles and pace variation, not just raw turn. That confidence travelled. The Dubai surface fit him like a glove—low bounce at times, bite off a hard seam, enough hold to make the wrong ’un dangerous. He didn’t need extravagant drift to cause trouble. He needed batters thinking about both edges of their bat. He got that early.
Will Young’s wicket became the hinge on which the innings swung. Before it, New Zealand were content knocking it around. After it, they had to rebuild without losing tempo. That’s tough when the bowler keeps attacking the pads and stumps while showing the ball outside off just long enough to bait a shot. The margin for error shrank, and the scoreboard started to feel heavier than the target.
His five-for wasn’t a streaky haul built on tail-enders. He created chances in the heart of the innings, the hard overs where singles matter more than sixes. Batters who tried to read off the pitch were late. Those who premeditated got beaten on the inside. You didn’t see wild swings and collapses; you saw misjudgments—nudges to close-in catchers, horizontal bats against balls that weren’t short enough, stumps lit up when players played for spin that never came, or didn’t play for spin that did.
If you’ve followed his rise, none of this felt out of character. Chakravarthy came into top-level cricket later than most, built his game through domestic seasons and the IPL, and learned to defend without becoming defensive. He doesn’t need to be loud to be lethal. He knows his zones. He understands that in one-day cricket, the most valuable ball is the one that looks hittable but isn’t.
From India’s point of view, the bigger win is strategic. A second spin option who can attack and contain gives them flexibility through the middle overs. It frees up the captain to pair seam at one end with pressure at the other, or double down on spin when the surface allows. It also makes match-ups easier—right-handers can be pinned with the googly, left-handers tested with the ball angled across and straightened by the seam.
In Dubai, the approach clicked for simple reasons: control of length, minimal freebies, and constant uncertainty. There were no long half-volleys. There were no predictable patterns. He kept the stumps in play and made New Zealand hit across the line for their release. That’s how you turn a chase of 250 from manageable to tricky.
Key beats from the passage that shifted the game:
- Target: 250 for New Zealand, a total that usually keeps both teams in the game deep.
- Score at the moment: 49/2 in the 12th over after Will Young’s dismissal for 22.
- The ball: a disguised googly pitched outside off, turning back in to hit the stumps via a thick inside edge.
- The aftermath: India’s spinners took control of the tempo, and Chakravarthy ended with a five-wicket haul.
There’s also the psychological layer. New Zealand are known for patience in chases. They don’t panic early. Taking out a set batter with a ball he thought he had covered forces recalibration. Suddenly, strike rotation looks tougher, and boundary options shrink. The next man in isn’t walking into flow; he’s walking into doubt.
For Chakravarthy, this night does more than fill a column in the wickets tally. It validates the selection call and signals to the rest of the tournament that India can win by squeezing, not just by blasting teams out. If pitches in the UAE continue to offer the kind of grip we saw here, India have a template: seam to start, spin to choke, and one bowler who can end an over with the ball threatening every stump.
Will Young’s dismissal will stay in highlight packages because it looks good in slow motion. But its weight lies in timing. At 49/1, New Zealand were on script. At 49/2, with a mystery spinner on song, they were forced into a different game. That’s the power of a single delivery in one-day cricket—the scoreboard changes by a wicket, but the story changes by a lot more.
And that’s why this spell will be remembered. Not just for the five-for, not just for the googly, but for the way both added up to control. India wanted a foothold in the middle overs. They got a hand around the chase and didn’t let go.