News

Praveen swings, Warnie sinks

Plays of the Day for the tenth match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals

S Aga
18-Mar-2010
The day Praveen Kumar created mayhem at the Chinnaswamy  •  Associated Press

The day Praveen Kumar created mayhem at the Chinnaswamy  •  Associated Press

Out, four and out
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala had made just one when he clearly feathered one behind off Jacques Kallis. The Royal Challengers Bangalore were stunned when umpire Hariharan shook his head, and Kallis' mood worsened when Jhunjhunwala then scythed one over slip for four. The next delivery, however, was chopped back on. This time, no umpire was needed.
Bounce, baby, bounce
Dale Steyn set the tone, Kallis followed suit, and even Vinay Kumar joined in, clattering Yusuf Pathan's helmet with a short ball. Against the short-pitched barrage, he ducked and bobbed and made half-hearted attempts to steer over slip. But when Vinay deviated from the plan and bowled a length delivery, Yusuf was ready. It went into the stands behind long-on. The next ball, short and slow, was propelled in the same direction.
Direct delivery
It wasn't the short ball that got Yusuf though. Instead, Virat Kohli swooped from short cover and threw the stumps down at the keeper's end with Yusuf just short. The ball from Kumble was later shown to be a no-ball. Would they have attempted such a risky single if it had been called?
Thrice as nice
Praveen Kumar ended Damien Martyn's misery, and that of thousands who worship at the altar of stylish batting, with a ball that crashed into the base of the stumps. And when Sumit Narwal was then brilliantly caught by Manish Pandey running in from fine leg, the stadium was abuzz with the possibility of a hat-trick. Praveen steadied himself and with the crowd baying in the background, breached Paras Dogra's defence. Cue mayhem, and the sort of Nou-Camp atmosphere that greeted Lionel Messi's goals on Wednesday night.
Do I know you?
Kallis and Morne Morkel may be team-mates in the national side, but seniority asserted itself when the run chase began. Three sweet clips through the on side raised Morkel's hackles, and when he summoned up a brute of a bouncer, fortune was on Kallis' side, with an odd-looking stroke flying off the edge and over the slips for four more. With 32 on the board after two overs, the game was as good as over.
Warnie, Warnie
The stadium announcer did his best to drum up support for Shane Warne when he came on to bowl, but the crowd wasn't having any of it. Pandey treated him with some respect though, but when Warne slightly erred in length, Pandey was quickly in position to mow one through midwicket. An era has passed?