The Analysis: Welcome to The Hundred, Wahab Riaz

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: Marchant de Lange shone with the ball for Trent Rockets while on temporary secondment in The Hundred, piling the pressure on Wahab Riaz to come out firing on debut. And of course, he did

Such is the talent in the Trent Rockets bowling line-up that it can be difficult to stand out. Their roster is a thing of envy.

Rashid Khan needs little introduction. The diminutive Afghan spinner entered this match with eight wickets in his first four outings in Rockets yellow, dominating The Hundred just as he has dominated every white-ball competition he turned his hand to.

In Samit Patel, the Rockets have arguably the best domestic white-ball allrounder of his generation, not only an explosive batsman but also a nifty slow left-arm spinner with 266 wickets and a career economy of 7.27.

A decade his junior is Nottinghamshire’s Matt Carter, a tall right-arm spinner whose height offers him an unusual advantage over many batsmen.

Lancashire’s Luke Wood has established himself as his side’s opening set specialist, bowling the first five balls in all five of his appearances to date and being used sparingly elsewhere. Skipper Lewis Gregory, Steven Mullaney and D’Arcy Short are also talented bowling options.

However, this evening’s match against Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens was only ever going to be about one man: Wahab Riaz.

The Pakistan veteran has endured a frustrating wait to make his debut. He arrived in the country early in July only to be told his work permit was invalid, forcing him to return to Pakistan, obtain a new visa and return to square one of the quarantine process. In his absence, Marchant de Lange excelled, taking a five-for in his tournament opener against Southern Brave and finishing his four-match stint with eight wickets and an economy of 1.38. He joined the team as a temporary fix but didn’t waste a breath in establishing himself as their first-choice seamer.

However, the arrival of Riaz triggered his departure and de Lange returned to Somerset. Now, Riaz is no slouch with the ball. The death over specialist has taken 334 wickets in 280 career T20 appearances, 34 of those coming in Pakistan green, and boasts a sub-8.5 economy in every franchise league he has participated. Even in his 'worst' league – the T20 Blast – his record stands at 32 appearances, 41 wickets and an economy of 8.25.

And while De Lange left a sizeable pair of shoes to fill, both physically and metaphorically, Riaz - to the surprise of no one - proved himself to be equal to the task.

Introduced into the attack to bowl the third set of the powerplay, the 36-year-old wasted little time in chalking up his first wicket, dismissing Tom Banton (caught Khan) one ball after the Somerset man had punished a poor delivery for four.

His second five was somewhat ropier, yielding 11 runs, including the first six of the match, as Leus du Plooy and Glenn Phillips went to town on the rusty speedster. At this point, for those of a Trent Rockets persuasion - and in particular, the newer fans who likely hadn't seen the Pakistan international bowl prior to this match - the decision to replace de Lange with Riaz probably didn't seem so great.

However, by the end of Welsh Fire’s 100 balls, membership of the Nottinghamshire branch of the Wahab Riaz appreciation society will have increased exponentially.

Saving his final 10 deliveries for balls 91 to 100, Riaz removed Jimmy Neesham with an inch perfect yorker, had du Plooy runout attempting to complete a frankly outrageous three, watched on as Qais Ahmed picked out Dawid Malan at fine leg, and bowled Luke Fletcher to finish the innings – his first in Trent Rockets yellow – with figures of 4 for 30. Not a bad attempt at replicating de Lange’s debut five-for.

💥 BRILLIANT FROM RIAZ! 💥#WelshFire manage just 11 runs from final 10 balls as Wahab excels 👌

Wahab bowls each of the 10 and takes 3️⃣ wickets, including Neesham with a superb yorker 🎳#TrentRockets need 1️⃣4️⃣0️⃣

📺 SS The Hundred 👉 https://t.co/N5yEvBmzDs pic.twitter.com/8L9kqDarfb

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 6, 2021

However, the beauty of Riaz’s death bowling in South Wales was less about the number of wickets he notched up, but more the way he manipulated the batsmen like puppets on a string. His recipe of choice mixed length balls and yorkers (the latter coming in off, middle, leg and wide varieties), each one landing on a sixpence exactly where he intended it to place. What about the four he conceded off the 98th ball, you ask?  A fortuitous inside edge to beat the ‘keeper, completely out of the bowler’s control.

To say Riaz was the missing piece of Trent Rockets’ puzzle would do a huge disservice to not only de Lange, but also their entire bowling unit. Instead, he is more like the cherry on the top of an already excellent and well-balanced set-up, expertly marshalled by captain Gregory. His death bowling is the piece de resistance for a team who, following their six-wicket victory over Welsh Fire, are looking good for a top three finish.

The only worry for Rockets is can they keep their finisher healthy? He was already feeling his back after 20 balls at Sophia Gardens, but hopefully that was just the after-effects of two weeks of sedentary hotel isolation.