Spread evenly over the field, Bangalore’s cup of woes brimmed as they spilled catches, and gave a miserable account of themselves to grant Rajasthan Royals a comfortable warm-up after their six-day break from the IPL. Praveen Kumar would have left Zaheer Khan’s blood boiling — the 45 degree-plus temperature having little to do with it — when he stood watching even as Smith’s lofted high-ball came floating his way, while the slack fielder offered no effort towards catching it. Smith, then on 53, continued to ride his luck and Bangalore’s lax body language on way to 75.

Rajasthan’s 197-1 looked distinctly ungettable. And with Bangalore as rivals, it was an utter mismatch between the two Royals as Rajasthan won by a massive 65 run-margin. It’s the irony of the man who hit a heroic six on the last ball of the match. And yet lost. Of a man who has the word ‘Test’ so splashed on the wall, that his 36-ball 75 was never going to be quite enough to bail his team out.