Chasing 235 at the Wankhede, Delhi needed 125 runs off 8.1 overs with eight wickets in hand when Stubbs came out to bat. They had just lost set batter Prithvi Shaw for 66 and with a struggling Abishek Porel at the other end, they needed Stubbs to hit the fifth gear from ball one. Which is exactly what he did. The third ball Stubbs faced was slogged over the leg side for a six. The fifth, the same. In the blink of an eye, he was batting at 16 off five.

Stubbs’ first foray into the IPL was for Mumbai Indians in 2022. Across two seasons, however, he only got four games out of which he crossed five once. Picked up by Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2024 auction, he has finally made a mark with his clean striking. From five games, he averages 45.3 and strikes at 172.2, having bludgeoned ten sixes.

Against his former franchise, Stubbs kept his foot firmly on the accelerator for the entire duration he was out there. With the asking rate touching the high teens, he kept Delhi in the hunt, finding regular boundaries. He was especially harsh on Akash Madhwal in the 17th over, reverse-scooping, slogging, and driving him around the ground for three boundaries.

From 125 off 49 when Stubbs came at the crease, the equation was down to 55 off 12. Of the 70 runs that had been knocked off in 37 balls, 52 were scored by Stubbs, off 21. The remaining batters (along with extras) combined to add 18 off 16 in that time. If anybody was going to get those 55 runs, or even anything close to that, it had to be Stubbs.

The first two balls of the 19th over were smashed for two sixes. 43 off 10 looked nearly impossible, but as long as Stubbs was there, there was a glimmer of hope for DC. Strangely then, he ended up facing only two out of the last ten balls as Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Kumar Kushagra, and Jhye Richardson combined to add six off the other eight. DC fell short by 29 runs.

While it’s hard to blame the batter who finished unbeaten on 71 off 25 for the loss, it’s also hard to look past the sub-optimal strike management decisions that Stubbs and his teammates took in the last couple of overs.

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The single on the third ball of the 19th over which brought Axar on strike could have been avoided and so could the attempted double on the fourth which resulted in Axar’s wicket at the striker’s end and left Stubbs stranded. Stubbs was batting on 65 off 24 at that point and Axar on seven off six. It was obvious who was more likely to hit a boundary. Stubbs got back on strike and hit a six off the last ball of the penultimate over.

With 34 needed off six, neither a single nor a double could have kept the equation within reach for DC. But a single would have meant Stubbs would have regained strike, providing them with a better chance to get closer to the target in case there was an extra or even just for net run rate purposes. Yet, when Lalit Yadav then slogged to mid-wicket on the first ball of the over, Stubbs scampered back for two, never to come back on strike in the game again.

It wasn’t the first time that Stubbs losing the strike towards the end of the innings cost Delhi Capitals this season.

Against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, they were chasing 186. Stubbs came out at No.5 with DC needing 89 off 8.4 overs. In the next 7 overs, they added 67, of which Stubbs made 40 off 19 and others combined to make 27 off 23. Like in this game, he went big off the first two balls of the penultimate over, hitting six and four. And like in this game, he did little of note thereafter, hitting four singles off his next four balls. DC went from needing 22 off 10 to losing by 12 runs.

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The margins of both these defeats look relatively steep at first glance, and Stubbs has done plenty to underline his talent this tournament. But if the youngster had the foresight to hold the strike, especially with no in-form and reliable hitters at the other end, the margins could have been much narrower and maybe one, if not both of those results might have gone DC’s way as well. As it stands, DC have now lost four out of their five games and are at the bottom of the table.

The next time Stubbs finds himself in a similar situation, maybe he should back his abilities, of which he has plenty, and try taking matters into his own hands.