West Indies’ colorful line-up, known for its exuberance, was joined on Wednesday night by a player with a droopy look that stood out amidst the flare and glare. In a match that was billed as a six-a-side battle. Roston ChaseHe was a modest off-spinner and batsman with a T20I strike rate of 121. In a match that was supposed to bring down England’s left-handed batsmen, Chase overwhelmed the opposition’s right-handed batsmen with both bat and ball, as Shai Hope revealed at the toss.

Regarding this game At WankhedeChase had never played in a T20 before, but when Chase was dismissed, West Indies found themselves in an awkward position at 8-2. The Mumbai crowd was hungry for big hits, but Jofra Archer threatened to reach 150km/h and delivered only a couple of overs in the first three.

Then there was a spin on the power play. From near the wicket, Will Jacks placed two fielders on the deep midwicket and long-on boundaries, creating space for Chase to casually play a series of three-fours, two of which were dispatched for offside. You don’t have to be a flashy power hitter, you don’t have to take the unnecessary risk of hitting with spin and trying to outrun the fielder at the ropes, just shoot the ball mid-range to the boundary line.

In the West Indies innings, which ended the powerplay for just 16, Chase was humming his own tunes, fitting into the West Indies team’s playlist. With Liam Dawson coming in from near the wicket, Chase immediately darted to the offside and took a fired delivery that paddled well enough to beat short fine leg for four. Chase’s 29-pitch 34 innings wasn’t spectacular, but it set the stage for Sherfan Rutherford’s plunder that followed.

By the time West Indies finished on 196, the pitch was observed to favor spin over pace, as evidenced by Adil Rashid’s looping leg-break, which saw them score four boundary-less overs for just 16 and take two wickets.

West Indies were wise to introduce Chase’s spin to match Matthew Ford’s pace.

Except when I saw Phil Salt hit Akeyar Hossain’s first shot straight into the ground. The pace went for the runs and Jason Holder’s first over leaked out for 24. And when left-hander Jacob Bethel carved three more boundaries off Hossain, Hope knew it was time for a change.

As soon as the field widened, Chase got the ball. But just one ball later, he found himself facing experienced ball-busher Jos Buttler. Not only does he have a wealth of experience at Wankhede, he had also beaten Chase with 29 off 58 in five T20s before this match. And Butler continued to dominate the chase. The flat shot to the pads flew off his bat so easily that Chase didn’t even have time to think. But he did so and quickly circled the wicket, sending the ball flying through the humid Mumbai air and holed out at long-on with a length that Buttler couldn’t easily get under or over.

This was a testament to the knowledge that Chase has gained by playing all three formats around the world without ever appearing in the IPL or playing more than six matches in a T20 league apart from the CPL.

At Wankhede, while bowling with IPL’s rock stars, Chase kept changing pace and length, keeping the likes of Bethel and Harry Brook in check. Chase would also have remembered that the delivery that sent him back earlier was a googly that swerved sharply from Rashid and caught him on the back foot. When the powerful Jacks hit a strike, Chase used the same ploy, pinning the batter with his front hind legs, then running away to celebrate as soon as the ball landed with a thud on his pads.

“…I watched England’s bowling innings and thought maybe if the spinners were a little slower they would get more spin,” Chase said after the match. “So my initial plan, especially against the left-handers, was to slow them down a little bit so that I could pull a little bit of turn off the wicket and keep the stumps in play.

“I think that’s one thing I really try to protect, especially in white-ball cricket. I just try to keep the stumps in play. If a batsman wants to take a risk off the stumps, I’m always in the game.”

By the time Chase finished that night, he had given up only 15 runs on 13 pitches to right-handed hitters, sending two of them back.

While Gudakesh Motier continued to attack at the other end that night, bringing home more wickets than Chase, it was the off-spinner who bowled suffocating lines, reduced loose deliveries and casually capped off a memorable night with a low catch in the deep that sealed West Indies’ top spot in Group C.

Although not player of the match, Chase once again proved that his essence lies in what he brings to the table and that is reflected on the scorecard rather than his personality.