Morkel's role reversal and Yuvraj's relief

A humongous price tag singles you out. Then you get thrust into an unnecessary controversy days before your franchise debut. Neither was Yuvraj Singh's fault. He did, however, contribute to that uncomfortable spotlight growing a bit brighter by dropping Brendon McCullum. The edge came at him too quick, the height was disconcerting and the ball wouldn't stick. But before Yuvraj could round up enough words to curse his luck, the bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile produced another chance. Extra pace foxed McCullum and the top-edge shot up behind the wicketkeeper. Redemption at hand, Yuvraj pinged after it and converted the chance.

To restrict the endless Chennai Super Kings batting to 150 meant a few plans had to go right, even the slightly bizarre ones that wouldn't make it to the drawing board. Yuvraj was the linchpin to this nefarious set-up. He gave McCullum a life, only to snap him up next ball. Dwayne Bravo was next to be caught napping while issuing his sigh of relief. He was nowhere in the frame when a Yuvraj throw skirted past the stumps. But Domnic Joseph's next ball arrived quicker than expected, thudded if a little high on his pads, and had Bravo looking up at the umpire's raised forefinger.

An almighty six from Albie Morkel left eight to get off the final two balls, and another belt to point seemed set to knock four more off the equation. It was a slower ball gone wrong from Bravo, and it could have gone really wrong had Suresh Raina not been alive to the possibility of the ball deviating as it normally does when the bowler puts cut on it and the batsman matches it with a cut shot of his own. Raina charged to his right, waited for a split second to adjust to the ball zipping further away from him and got his body behind it. Only two runs were taken.

Morkel was back in Chennai after two years. It was his 268th T20, a world record. He had to juggle an asking-rate nearing double-digits in the last five overs. The MA Chidamabaram crowd were used to that. Seeing their finisher in the Daredevils' red-and-blue though would require getting used to. Even more since he was a few feet from pulling off the kind of miracle they have seen him do. With six to win off the final ball - a length ball - Morkel would up over extra cover and leaped up into the air, thinking the flat blow had crossed the ropes, only to watch the ball bounce before the boundary. And the roar that sounded around the stadium left Morkel as the one who needed getting used to the role reversal.