Pollard's silent protest, and a 10-ball over
Plays of the day from the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians
Rachna Shetty
19-Apr-2015
The silent protest
What does a player do after a warning by an umpire to cut down on chatter to the batsman? Pipe down. Unless you're Kieron Pollard. Asked by the umpire to put a stop to his chattering at the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen, Pollard deployed a method more common at protest marches around the world than on a cricket field - he put a duct tape over his mouth. By the time he came on to bowl the last over of the match, the tape had been taken off.
What does a player do after a warning by an umpire to cut down on chatter to the batsman? Pipe down. Unless you're Kieron Pollard. Asked by the umpire to put a stop to his chattering at the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen, Pollard deployed a method more common at protest marches around the world than on a cricket field - he put a duct tape over his mouth. By the time he came on to bowl the last over of the match, the tape had been taken off.
The overs that went on, and on, and on…
Dropped catches had plagued Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians in their previous games. In this game, in addition to the catches, it was the extras conceded. Iqbal Abdulla bowled an eight-ball over during Mumbai Indians' innings but he was outdone by Mumbai Indians' bowlers. Mitchell McClenaghan began the side's defence of 209 with a nine-ball over that included two wides, a no-ball and a dropped catch. Jasprit Bumrah began his spell with a 10-ball over that had four successive wides at the start.
Dropped catches had plagued Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians in their previous games. In this game, in addition to the catches, it was the extras conceded. Iqbal Abdulla bowled an eight-ball over during Mumbai Indians' innings but he was outdone by Mumbai Indians' bowlers. Mitchell McClenaghan began the side's defence of 209 with a nine-ball over that included two wides, a no-ball and a dropped catch. Jasprit Bumrah began his spell with a 10-ball over that had four successive wides at the start.
The chance that went abegging
The second ball of a 210-run chase. A short of a length ball from McCleanghan sat up and Chris Gayle took a thwack at it. The ball flew straight to Lendl Simmons at cover. Perhaps thrown off by the speed at which it came, Simmons spilled the chance. Rohit Sharma was on his knees in despair, Gayle had a blank look on his face and Simmons could only offer a sheepish smile.
The second ball of a 210-run chase. A short of a length ball from McCleanghan sat up and Chris Gayle took a thwack at it. The ball flew straight to Lendl Simmons at cover. Perhaps thrown off by the speed at which it came, Simmons spilled the chance. Rohit Sharma was on his knees in despair, Gayle had a blank look on his face and Simmons could only offer a sheepish smile.
Collision, chaos, comedy
With the openers gone after a slow start, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik had some catching up to do. Karthik drove a ball off Hardik Pandya to sweeper cover and the batsmen set off for two. After completing the first single, both of them turned and started running on the same side of the pitch, realised that, then started running diagonally and collided. Fortunately for them, Mumbai Indians missed the run-out chance but Kohli was not amused.
With the openers gone after a slow start, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik had some catching up to do. Karthik drove a ball off Hardik Pandya to sweeper cover and the batsmen set off for two. After completing the first single, both of them turned and started running on the same side of the pitch, realised that, then started running diagonally and collided. Fortunately for them, Mumbai Indians missed the run-out chance but Kohli was not amused.
Rachna Shetty is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo