The chainsaw massacre
Dileep Premachandran reviews the Plays of the Day on day two of the first Test between England and India at Lord's
Dileep Premachandran
20-Jul-2007
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The Kerala Chainsaw strikes: After taking his time to get used to
the Lord's slope on Thursday, Sreesanth was quickly into his groove with
the second new ball. Pitching the ball up and swinging it late, he got all
three wickets leg before. The celebrations after each were similar to a
man trying to start a lawnmower. But since those aren't really to be found
in Kerala, we'll assume that it was a good old chainsaw at work.
Out, In Like Flynn and Out Again: There have been some bizarre
dismissals down the years, but few batsmen could have been given out twice
in three balls in the same innings. It happened to Kevin Pietersen in the
afternoon, with Simon Taufel declaring him out even though Mahendra Singh
Dhoni had dived and taken the edge on the bounce. The Indians were miffed
when Pietersen was allowed to return to the crease, after his trudge to
the pavilion ended with team-mates alerting him from the balcony. Zaheer
Khan wouldn't be denied though, and a beautiful delivery slanting away
from the batsman sent him back minutes later. This time, there were no
comebacks.
Ball of the day - Jimmy's time: James Anderson was identified as
the future of English pace bowling five years ago, but since then, others
have left him several rungs behind on the ladder of success. With
England's first-choice pace trio all missing through injury, this was his
chance, and he seized it with impeccable swing bowling. The best moment?
The nearly unplayable delivery that pitched on middle stump and shaped
away to graze the edge of Rahul Dravid's bat.
Did the Earth move?: The game was meandering in the late-evening
sunshine, with batsmen strokeless and bowlers content to keep it tight
when Chris Tremlett got one to rear sharply at Wasim Jaffer. When the ball
lobbed back in his direction, Tremlett, a young man built like a rugby
No.8 threw himself forward to take the ball at full stretch an inch from
the ground. For India, it was a seismic blow.
These drops are contagious: It was a wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik, fielding at
point that dropped a clanger yesterday. On Friday, it was
Matt Prior's turn, diving across in front of slip to palm the ball away
after Jaffer had edged one from Ryan Sidebottom. Jaffer was yet to score
at the time.
A touch of class: Lord's may not have the atmosphere of the MCG or
Eden Gardens, but the punters that come through the turnstiles are
usually discerning ones. When Sachin Tendulkar walked out, in what will
surely be his last Test appearance at this venue, a large number of fans
who had braved the morning showers rose as one to applaud him. There are
times that call for partisanship, but this was a moment to fail the
Tebbitt Test and acknowledge one of the game's all-time greats.
Dileep Premachandran is associate editor of Cricinfo