India, April 22 -- Delhi Capitals were not chasing in hope alone when Eshan Malinga changed the game. They were chasing from a position that still carried structure. Sunrisers Hyderabad had put up a mammoth 242/2, powered by Abhishek Sharma's unbeaten 135, but the first half of the reply had not collapsed into chaos. At 107/2 after 10 overs, the equation was steep, yet not absurd for a side that still had a set Nitish Rana in full flow and enough batting left to imagine one of those modern T20 sprints that turn the death overs into panic for the bowling side.

That is why Malinga's spell deserves to be read beyond the scorecard. The figures, 4 for 32, already stand out. But the shape of the spell matters even more than the numbers. He did...