Feature

Kohli gets a mouthful, Neser gets a welcome

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore

Firdose Moonda
Firdose Moonda
06-May-2013
Virat Kohli was left to rue a simple chance he put down off David Miller  •  BCCI

Virat Kohli was left to rue a simple chance he put down off David Miller  •  BCCI

Induction of the day
Michael Neser was preferred over Luke Pomersbach as Kings XI Punjab opted for an extra quick bowler but things did not go as planned for him. In his first over, Neser stuck to the team strategy and bowled a bouncer to Chris Gayle. The big Jamaican was ready for the short stuff, backed away and hooked it for six. Neser went for length to end the over but Gayle swung over mid-wicket to record back-to-back sixes against the rookie, whose eventual figures of 4-0-62-0 were one short of the record for the most expensive figures in the IPL.
Speed of the day
Piyush Chawla must have thought he could stem the run-flow by rushing through his overs but that translated into bowling a lot quicker, too. His fastest delivery was a ball of 122.4 kph, which Gayle only managed to inside edge. Ironically, it was about the same pace that Praveen Kumar was bowling throughout.
Denial of the day
Having got rid of the Royal Challengers Bangalore openers, Kings XI squeezed their opposition in the middle overs. Cheteshwar Pujara did not want to get too bogged down so when Virat Kohli dug out a Praveen yorker, he called the captain through. They had to hurry through the single because Praveen was quick to react. As Pujara struggled to make his ground at the non-strikers' end, Praveen flicked the ball onto the stumps. Replays showed the bails came off as Pujara's bat was on the line but he was given not-out. To add insult to injury, the batsmen also ran an overthrow.
Drop of the day
Virat Kohli got a mouthful - literally - when he found himself in prime position to end Miller's aggressive knock. For the second time in the innings, Miller top-edged as he tried to slog down the ground and the ball seemed to kiss the low floodlights as it hurtled towards Kohli at extra cover. He was well under it and waited for it to come down but as it reached him, it burst through his hands and ricocheted onto his face and hit him on the mouth. He did not appear to lose any teeth but his ego took a knock as Miller marched on.
Misfield of the day
Only because it came from the man who never gets it wrong. With pressure on the Royal Challengers' fielders, AB de Villiers was the man stationed at deep mid-wicket to ensure the boundary rope was not breached. Miller pulled to him and de Villiers fumbled to allow a single to become a two as Kings XI got one closer to the total.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent