Gayle pushes Bravo and Albie cops it
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings in Bangalore
Abhishek Purohit
22-May-2011
Zaheer: The old fox • Associated Press
Gayle's antics
Chris Gayle enjoys himself on the field and is always up to something. When MS Dhoni drove a ball back to him, he stretched out his right leg to stop it. He then bent towards the ball to pick it up but found Dwayne Bravo, the non-striker, in the way. He contemptuously shoved Bravo out of the way to get to the ball. Bravo, long used to his West Indies team-mate's antics, just smiled.
Chris Gayle enjoys himself on the field and is always up to something. When MS Dhoni drove a ball back to him, he stretched out his right leg to stop it. He then bent towards the ball to pick it up but found Dwayne Bravo, the non-striker, in the way. He contemptuously shoved Bravo out of the way to get to the ball. Bravo, long used to his West Indies team-mate's antics, just smiled.
Albie cops it
Albie Morkel came on to bowl late, in the tenth over of Bangalore's chase. He would have wished he wasn't called upon at all. First delivery, Gayle bashed the ball straight back at him. Morkel was still going through the motions of his followthrough and took a crunching blow on the right shin. He went down in pain and there was a long break before he recovered enough to be able to bowl. There was no way Morkel was going to bowl another one in the danger zone though. He kept it mostly full and wide outside off stump, so that even if Gayle got to it, the bowler would survive.
Albie Morkel came on to bowl late, in the tenth over of Bangalore's chase. He would have wished he wasn't called upon at all. First delivery, Gayle bashed the ball straight back at him. Morkel was still going through the motions of his followthrough and took a crunching blow on the right shin. He went down in pain and there was a long break before he recovered enough to be able to bowl. There was no way Morkel was going to bowl another one in the danger zone though. He kept it mostly full and wide outside off stump, so that even if Gayle got to it, the bowler would survive.
The bluff
Michael Hussey has had a fantastic tournament but there have been a couple of occasions where he has been worked over by the left-arm seamers. Against Delhi Daredevils, it was Irfan Pathan who did him in with one that did not swing away. Today, it was Zaheer Khan, who bowled four consecutive deliveries in the first over to Hussey that moved away outside off stump. The last one of those produced the outside edge that flew wide of slip as Hussey went for the drive. First ball of the third over, Zaheer bowled a straight ball much closer to off stump. Hussey tried to cover for the expected away movement while trying to drive, only, there wasn't any. The ball clipped the inside edge and crashed in to off stump.
Michael Hussey has had a fantastic tournament but there have been a couple of occasions where he has been worked over by the left-arm seamers. Against Delhi Daredevils, it was Irfan Pathan who did him in with one that did not swing away. Today, it was Zaheer Khan, who bowled four consecutive deliveries in the first over to Hussey that moved away outside off stump. The last one of those produced the outside edge that flew wide of slip as Hussey went for the drive. First ball of the third over, Zaheer bowled a straight ball much closer to off stump. Hussey tried to cover for the expected away movement while trying to drive, only, there wasn't any. The ball clipped the inside edge and crashed in to off stump.
The look
Like any other fast bowler, Zaheer likes to glare at and have an occasional verbal go at the batsman. He got an opportunity when Suresh Raina went for a slog-pull off a short ball that hurried on to him, only to top-edge to point. Zaheer initially stared hard in disbelief at Raina for attempting that kind of shot so early in his innings, and then let him know what he thought of it.
Like any other fast bowler, Zaheer likes to glare at and have an occasional verbal go at the batsman. He got an opportunity when Suresh Raina went for a slog-pull off a short ball that hurried on to him, only to top-edge to point. Zaheer initially stared hard in disbelief at Raina for attempting that kind of shot so early in his innings, and then let him know what he thought of it.
The swerving one
R Ashwin bowls the carrom ball as a surprise delivery. It was AB de Villiers' turn to be surprised today. The first ball of the Bangalore chase was tossed up, and swerved in the air like an outswinger to beat de Villiers on the drive. The third delivery was flighted too, de Villiers thought he could drive it again and tried to play it as a straight ball. But it moved away even further, and MS Dhoni completed the stumping.
R Ashwin bowls the carrom ball as a surprise delivery. It was AB de Villiers' turn to be surprised today. The first ball of the Bangalore chase was tossed up, and swerved in the air like an outswinger to beat de Villiers on the drive. The third delivery was flighted too, de Villiers thought he could drive it again and tried to play it as a straight ball. But it moved away even further, and MS Dhoni completed the stumping.
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo