The batsman without a trick

Chennai Super Kings had crawled to 16 for 0 after 5.1 overs in their stifled start when Brendon McCullum decided to change his bat in an attempt to utilise the last five balls of the Powerplay. However, things didn't go the way he wanted them to as he played out four dot balls. The second ball, he shuffled across to off and failed to reverse-scoop it over the wicketkeeper. Third ball he came down the track and swung his bat outside off but missed it again. Fourth ball he connected but found backward point. When he slashed the fifth ball to point again, one could sense the pressure mounting. And last ball he shuffled to off again, only to mistime it straight to JP Duminy at mid-off to complete Zaheer Khan's wicket maiden.

Super Kings' restrained start was worsened by two bowlers who struck in their first over. After Zaheer and Shahbaz Nadeem conceded only 24 runs together in the first seven overs, Albie Morkel struck on his first ball when Super Kings would have thought of opening their arms a bit. Morkel started with a fullish delivery that nipped in and caught Dwayne Smith on the back foot for a scratchy 18. In the very next over, offspinner Jayant Yadav removed a dangerous-looking Suresh Raina with an innocuous delivery on middle stump, which Raina drove straight to Duminy at short cover.

A fluent Shreyas Iyer teased one of Super Kings' best fielders - Faf du Plessis - twice in successive deliveries, and added further salt to their wounds by picking fours off both deliveries. When Pawan Negi started the 16th over, Iyer went on the back foot and swat-pulled the short delivery just wide of a flying du Plessis at short midwicket to bisect the gap between long-on and deep midwicket. The very next ball, on middle stump again, Iyer mistimed it just over du Plessis, who leaped in the air, but the ball just evaded his left hand. Once to the left, once to the right, and Iyer picked consecutive fours to leave one fielder jumping and two more running in vain.

On a slow and sluggish pitch in Raipur, nearly every batsman, barring Iyer, struggled for timing. When Ishwar Pandey pitched a ball outside off in the seventh over, Iyer made room and executed an effortless-looking inside-out drive that sent the ball sailing over the ropes. That one shot had such timing and ease that it looked like Iyer was batting on one of the flattest tracks of the country.