Benett's Jonty moment, and the 'fly-scoop'?
ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the Group A match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad
Nagraj Gollapudi at the Sardar Patel Stadium
04-Mar-2011
Martin Guptill: The follow-through comes moments later • Getty Images
Bennett's Jonty Rhodes moment
Charles Coventry had moved forward in an ungainly fashion to nudge Tim Southee towards mid-on. An alert Hamish Benett had already taken a start and then noticed Coventry, already late off the blocks, had run in the path of Southee, giving the fielder that extra second. Bennett picked the ball swiftly and then dived forward to throw underarm at the stumps. The eye-catching thing was the angle, which was tight and Bennett could only see one stump. Coventry tried hard to recover ground, throwing himself forward to make the crease but Bennett's throw was accurate and beat him by a whisker.
Charles Coventry had moved forward in an ungainly fashion to nudge Tim Southee towards mid-on. An alert Hamish Benett had already taken a start and then noticed Coventry, already late off the blocks, had run in the path of Southee, giving the fielder that extra second. Bennett picked the ball swiftly and then dived forward to throw underarm at the stumps. The eye-catching thing was the angle, which was tight and Bennett could only see one stump. Coventry tried hard to recover ground, throwing himself forward to make the crease but Bennett's throw was accurate and beat him by a whisker.
The fly-scoop?
Southee surprised Taylor with a short delivery that climbed on him too quick. Taylor was attentive to the length and had moved back quickly to leave the ball. But when it rushed on to him, he improvised equally swiftly by tilting the bat - which was lying dead horizontally - a little skywards, resembling more a scoop than a cut to fetch a four past fine leg. Perhaps we could call it the 'fly-scoop', though suggestions are welcome.
Southee surprised Taylor with a short delivery that climbed on him too quick. Taylor was attentive to the length and had moved back quickly to leave the ball. But when it rushed on to him, he improvised equally swiftly by tilting the bat - which was lying dead horizontally - a little skywards, resembling more a scoop than a cut to fetch a four past fine leg. Perhaps we could call it the 'fly-scoop', though suggestions are welcome.
Shot of the day
Quite often batting strokes stay etched in the mind mainly due of the follow-through. Think Gavaskar's straight drive. Lara's rasping cut or slicing cover drive; Tendulkar's backfoot punch; Dravid's cover drive. Today Martin Guptill sighted a length ball quickly from Tinashe Panyangara, and lofted it over the bowler's head for the first six of the match. What made the stroke picturesque was the way Guptill finished it - with clean follow-through and then the pose of a golfer watching his stroke land on the fairway.
Quite often batting strokes stay etched in the mind mainly due of the follow-through. Think Gavaskar's straight drive. Lara's rasping cut or slicing cover drive; Tendulkar's backfoot punch; Dravid's cover drive. Today Martin Guptill sighted a length ball quickly from Tinashe Panyangara, and lofted it over the bowler's head for the first six of the match. What made the stroke picturesque was the way Guptill finished it - with clean follow-through and then the pose of a golfer watching his stroke land on the fairway.
The lob
Propser Utseya was going for the flight, the first ball of his fourth over, but did not grip it and the ball lobbed over Brendon McCullum's head into Tatenda Taibu's gloves.
Propser Utseya was going for the flight, the first ball of his fourth over, but did not grip it and the ball lobbed over Brendon McCullum's head into Tatenda Taibu's gloves.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo