The blacksmith felt his organs clench as the first of the dogs, the bravely stupid, half-blind shepherd, reached the tiger and immediately went end over end as the big cat lashed at and then pinned him with all its enormous weight.
The big indexes went nowhere over the last decade, absolutely plummeted in the last few years and now even the 2009 snap-back rally is officially kaput.
But, in the same over, he went for another big drive and was caught inside the long on boundary by Buttler for 58 off 38 balls - and that prompted a collapse of five wickets for just nine runs as the Essex chase ended abruptly.