A birthday blooper and the thin line between success and failure
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and South Australia in Hyderabad
Abhishek Purohit in Hyderabad
27-Sep-2011
Daniel Christian was at his innovative best against Kolkata Knight Riders • AFP
The birthday blooper
It was not a birthday to remember for L Balaji. Aside from Kolkata Knight Riders losing their second consecutive game, he was at long-off during the first Powerplay when Daniel Harris skied one off Iqbal Abdulla. Balaji dashed forward but too eagerly. He found that he had over-run the ball and it looped over him and went for four. He was immediately sent to mid-on.
It was not a birthday to remember for L Balaji. Aside from Kolkata Knight Riders losing their second consecutive game, he was at long-off during the first Powerplay when Daniel Harris skied one off Iqbal Abdulla. Balaji dashed forward but too eagerly. He found that he had over-run the ball and it looped over him and went for four. He was immediately sent to mid-on.
The no-man's land
It is tough being in the deep in a Twenty20 game. There is a chance of conceding a second run if you are too deep and letting the ball fly past you if you are not deep enough. The Kolkata fielder at deep midwicket thought he had it right when he stood well inside the boundary in the tenth over. The third ball was pulled hard to his left but being so far inside the rope, he had no chance to cut off the boundary. The fifth delivery was tucked to his right softly and even though he ran hard, he could not stop the second run.
It is tough being in the deep in a Twenty20 game. There is a chance of conceding a second run if you are too deep and letting the ball fly past you if you are not deep enough. The Kolkata fielder at deep midwicket thought he had it right when he stood well inside the boundary in the tenth over. The third ball was pulled hard to his left but being so far inside the rope, he had no chance to cut off the boundary. The fifth delivery was tucked to his right softly and even though he ran hard, he could not stop the second run.
The audacious stroke
Sweeping a fast bowler takes some doing. If the bowler is Brett Lee and the delivery is outside off stump, there is the added element of danger. In the 18th over, Daniel Christian calmly bent his knee, picked up a full delivery and eased it past short fine leg to the boundary. Just like that. Lee stared in disbelief, Christian looked unperturbed.
Sweeping a fast bowler takes some doing. If the bowler is Brett Lee and the delivery is outside off stump, there is the added element of danger. In the 18th over, Daniel Christian calmly bent his knee, picked up a full delivery and eased it past short fine leg to the boundary. Just like that. Lee stared in disbelief, Christian looked unperturbed.
The thin line between success and failure
Nathan Lyon beat Manvinder Bisla thrice in the opening over of Kolkata's chase. And he went for 12 runs. Such is the lot of the spinner in this format. There was an appeal for lbw first ball and Bisla was beaten in the flight as he charged out to the last. Bisla still managed to get under three deliveries in between to score three boundaries and Lyon's figures at the end of the over read 1-0-12-0.
Nathan Lyon beat Manvinder Bisla thrice in the opening over of Kolkata's chase. And he went for 12 runs. Such is the lot of the spinner in this format. There was an appeal for lbw first ball and Bisla was beaten in the flight as he charged out to the last. Bisla still managed to get under three deliveries in between to score three boundaries and Lyon's figures at the end of the over read 1-0-12-0.
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo