A freaky no-ball, and need for spikes

When Irfan Pathan clubbed Mohammad Asif to long-off in the 18th over of Punjab's chase, something caught his eye as he set off for a run. After a few seconds the umpire I Shivram signaled a no-ball. Asif clearly hadn't overstepped, neither did he deliver the ball above Pathan's waist. Apparently, Pathan spotted only three fielders within the 30-yard circle - instead of the customary four - and gestured to the umpires after setting off for the run. Shivram duly deemed that an illegal delivery and an alert Pathan got his wish. The TV commentators couldn't resist taking Shivram's case and jokingly suggested that he take his shades off, that too under the floodlights.

When Glenn McGrath bowled a half volley on middle and leg, Yuvraj Singh exposed all his stumps and nonchalantly scooped him over the infield. One would have expected the ball to dip and land down long-off's throat but this time, the elevation was enough to carry it over the rope. It didn't seem like anything more than a defensive punch and somehow the ball defied gravity.

Television commentators chatting live to players in the field has been a Twenty20 novelty for a while now. The man in the hot seat today was Delhi's Gautam Gambhir and was unfortunately caught on the wrong foot. Yuvraj slashed Shoaib Malik towards point and Gambhir failed to time his dive. After conceding the boundary, the commentators were at it again, saying, "You should have stopped that, mate." Gambhir managed a smile and sheepishly replied that he should have worn his spikes. With Delhi in need of a breakthrough, one of them suggested he bring himself on to bowl. Waking up to the idea, Gambhir replied, "Maybe I can be the man with the golden arm." The opportunity never came.

The Mohali pitch is known to make batsmen hop occasionally and today it was Dinesh Karthik's turn. Facing VRV Singh with his tail up, he faced a brute of a delivery which hit the deck hard just short of a length, reared up on his glove and ballooned over Kumar Sangakkara, who was as clueless as Karthik. It was as if the Gabba pitch was air-dropped for that one delivery.

Simon Katich smashed McGrath for two successive fours on two occasions (two shots in front of the wicket and two behind) in what was a battle of the New South Wales duo. "It was the first time I faced Glenn McGrath in a match actually," he was to say later. "Only faced him at the nets before." Few batsmen would boast such a fine record against McGrath first up. All those hours in the nets coming of use.