A golden advice from daddy has always kept Colin Alexander Ingram calm and come out of difficult periods and situations successfully.
It may not be as big a conquer as Alexander the Great achieved, but Ingram’s aggressive century lifted the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and revived Karachi Kings’ fortunes in the PSL 4.
Ingram reminded himself of the daddy’s advice on Sunday night as he walked into bat with Karachi Kings – chasing a daunting 187-run target – struggling at two wickets down for just four runs.
He smashed eight sixes, the last one that won the game for Karachi by five wickets, and a dozen boundaries in his 59-ball 127 not out – the highest-ever by a batsman in a PSL match.
COLIN INGRAM BECOMES THE FIRST PLAYER FROM OUTSIDE PAKISTAN TO SCORE A CENTURY IN THE PSL
Take a bow, @CAIngram41!
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details 👉 https://t.co/IxqbAlf8QN #QGvKK #PSL2019 #KhelDeewanoKa #CricketForAll pic.twitter.com/TaZYC5mt4e
— Cricingif (@_cricingif) February 24, 2019
In the bargain, Ingram notched the fourth century in all PSL matches, matching the fastest three-figure mark set by Sharjeel Khan on 50 balls, for Islamabad against Peshawar in 2016.
The win lifted the gloom in the Karachi camp, their second in five games and handed Quetta their first defeat after four wins on the trot.
Ingram said he reminded himself of daddy’s advice and tried to keep things simple, a tough task after losing the top two batsmen in ICC T20I rankings – Babar Azam and Colin Munro.
“At that moment, I thought I should keep things simple,” said Ingram, who played 31 ODIs and nine T20Is for his native South Africa before moving to England.
“I know there were certain things I wanted to do in my own game when I came to bat. I did not have runs in the last few innings. My confidence was a bit low,” said the left-hander who had scores of one, 16, 21 and five in previous matches.
“My dad used to tell me as a kid it’s never a good time to panic’ in such situations. So, I suppose just try to stay calm and fortunately a few options that I took early on that worked and got me boundaries and that sort of got me rolling.”
Ingram believed spending some time in the middle was the key.
“I didn’t get runs in the four innings I played, so it was nice to spend some time in the middle again and, like I said, it was nice to spend time out there again and hit it as well as that. I couldn’t have hoped for something better coming into today.”
Ingram registered his fourth T20 century in a career which shaped in the United Kingdom as well after his migration, but he never cared for personal score.
“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking of my own scores I was just looking at the runs and balls and trying to squash those and trying to come close and close. Probably at a stage when (Mohammad) Nawaz was bowling and I thought that this is good time to take it on and fortunately it came off and that got momentum going,” said Ingram of the 14th over in which he hit three sixes off the left-arm spinner.
Ingram believed playing at Sharjah before had helped.
“It was fortunate to have played at this ground before in T10, so when I was 80 of 40, I felt it similar to how I played before. I always knew we could probably get home from there.”
Ingram hoped the win will help change the fate of Karachi Kings.
“I think we had a tough couple of games and sometimes it takes one game to change the momentum and look at the smiles in the dressing room again and hope that’s the case and we can return on winning ways. It’s nice to score some runs but at the end of the day a win was the most important for us.”
Ingram reckoned the inning was one of his best.
“I think it’s close (to) being the best,” said Ingram when asked if it was his best T20 innings.
“I got two hundreds in the UK in similar sort of circumstance. Probably, coming off from four low scores and probably not at my best in the last couple of weeks and to get a century like that will definitely be the one I will remember forever.”
Ingram vowed to take his team to the final, unlike last year when they lost in the second eliminator to Peshawar Zalmi.
“I am definitely going to Karachi. It’s one of those things, I was disappointed about last year when we played in Lahore in the play-off and lost and didn’t get to Karachi, the home team so thoroughly looking forward.”
Ingram believed Quetta will remain a force in the PSL.
“They (Quetta) won their first four games, so they would be telling everyone to stay calm. They got a good total on the board, so they are certainly a force to be reckoned with,” said Ingram.
Ingram admitted leaving South Africa for the UK was a difficult decision to make.
“Yes, it was a difficult one. I left South Africa for about four-and-a-half years ago. I always told them that my ‘phone is on but it has never really rung. I have been playing for Glamorgan and I am really enjoying. I think there are good Twenty20 leagues to go to, so I am playing in those.
“Personally, I have moved on and moved into a different bracket of my life. I am fortunate to spend time with my family, the family is fortunate to travel with me a lot, so it’s a difficult one.”
