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Feature

Toe to head in one over

How the variable bounce led to the calling off of play. Excerpts from Cricinfo's ball-by-ball commentary

Jamie Alter
Jamie Alter
27-Dec-2009
Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Gautam Gambhir discuss the pitch  •  AFP

Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Gautam Gambhir discuss the pitch  •  AFP

2.4 Khan to Jayasuriya, FOUR, pitches short of a length and sits up to surprise Jayasuriya, who doesn't go for it as he hops back, the ball clips his elbow and flies past the slips for four ... yes, his elbow, and goes for runs
7.3 Nehra to Dilshan, no run, change of pace, angles across Dilshan who stops the shot as the ball skids past him and stays very low, not carrying well to Dhoni behind the stumps
8.4 Khan to Dilshan, no run, back of a length, forcing Dilshan onto the back foot, then it stays low while jagging back, beats the bat and doesn't carry to Dhoni
9.2 Nehra to Dilshan, no run, he's hurt! The ball rears up from just back of a length and smacks Dilshan on the left arm, and despite wearing an arm guard he immediately reacts in pain, throwing the bat away toward square leg and dropping to his knees ... this pitch is a bad one, and something should now be said by the players .. that one jagged up off a patch and surprised him totally, he wasn't in position to play it and took it flush on the left forearm ... we will have a delay in play ... drinks come on for the players ... Nehra talks to Dilshan ... big huddle near the stumps as Dilshan gets treated
Well, the Sri Lankans seem content to continue playing. None of the on-air commentators have spoken about the nature of this track yet. Surprising. It isn't safe at the moment.
11.3 Tyagi to Jayasuriya, 1 leg bye, whoah, from toe to tip! After two low balls, this one pitches back of length, spits up and takes the shoulder of the bat as Jayasuriya presses it at it, there is some serious bounce if you find the spot
15.3 Tyagi to Jayasuriya, no run, pitches full and wide, stays low, very low, Jayasuriya flashes and misses and Dhoni does well to stop the ball, because it jumped up off the second bounce
15.5 Tyagi to Jayasuriya, no run, another one rises from back of a length and surprises Jayasuriya and hits him on the knuckles, he winces in pain as he sets off for a single toward square leg, then goes back and calls for attention for his fingers
19.6 Tyagi to Pushpakumara, 1 run, oh hell! Another corker from that patch, pitches back of a length and nearly knocks Pushpakumara's head off, he takes his eyes off it as the ball rears up toward his head, he ends up fending it down wide of slip
23.4 Tyagi to Kandamby, 1 wide, sharper still, as this one flies up off the track past the batsman, hitting one of those treacherous patches, and Dhoni does really well to stop the ball with one hand, a wide is called for some reason

Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo