MS Dhoni scoop-pulls for six
Plays of the day from the match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in Mohali
Andrew Fidel Fernando
16-May-2015
Ravindra Jadeja threw himself to his left and held on to complete one of the catches of the season • BCCI
The catch
Ravindra Jadeja made the latest addition to the Chennai Super Kings fielding highlight reel, when he claimed an outstanding diving catch to send David Miller packing, in the 14th over. Spotting a short delivery from Pawan Negi, Miller whacked the ball off the back foot, sending it flat and hard towards the deep-square-leg boundary. Jadeja had only a few metres to cover on the fence, but he had to do them quickly. He took two steps and flung himself low to his left completing the catch with both arms outstretched, six inches above the turf.
Ravindra Jadeja made the latest addition to the Chennai Super Kings fielding highlight reel, when he claimed an outstanding diving catch to send David Miller packing, in the 14th over. Spotting a short delivery from Pawan Negi, Miller whacked the ball off the back foot, sending it flat and hard towards the deep-square-leg boundary. Jadeja had only a few metres to cover on the fence, but he had to do them quickly. He took two steps and flung himself low to his left completing the catch with both arms outstretched, six inches above the turf.
The drop
Glenn Maxwell's poor season with the bat had earlier continued when he hit just 6, but his match was about to get worse in his first over, when he let a simple chance slip. Suresh Raina slid back in his crease to gently push a short-delivery back at Maxwell. But though the bowler got both hands to ball easily enough, the ball dribbled out of his grasp and onto the pitch.
Glenn Maxwell's poor season with the bat had earlier continued when he hit just 6, but his match was about to get worse in his first over, when he let a simple chance slip. Suresh Raina slid back in his crease to gently push a short-delivery back at Maxwell. But though the bowler got both hands to ball easily enough, the ball dribbled out of his grasp and onto the pitch.
The leaning flamingo
Kevin Pietersen may not have featured in this IPL, but a variant of the flamingo shot has been seen in India, thanks to Brendon McCullum. In his last game before leaving to England for Test duty, McCullum advanced to Beuran Hendricks in the second over, kicked up his back heel, and threw his bat at a back-of-a-length wide delivery. He didn't middle his attempted slap over cover, but picked up a top-edged boundary to third man nonetheless.
Kevin Pietersen may not have featured in this IPL, but a variant of the flamingo shot has been seen in India, thanks to Brendon McCullum. In his last game before leaving to England for Test duty, McCullum advanced to Beuran Hendricks in the second over, kicked up his back heel, and threw his bat at a back-of-a-length wide delivery. He didn't middle his attempted slap over cover, but picked up a top-edged boundary to third man nonetheless.
The scoop-pull
MS Dhoni's finishing superpowers had been somewhat diminished in this tournament, but in the final over of the match, he hit a shot that suggested he may be peaking for the playoffs. Spotting a short ball outside off stump, Dhoni moved quickly towards the off side, then with a whirr of the blade and a small leap, shoveled the delivery high over fine leg for six.
MS Dhoni's finishing superpowers had been somewhat diminished in this tournament, but in the final over of the match, he hit a shot that suggested he may be peaking for the playoffs. Spotting a short ball outside off stump, Dhoni moved quickly towards the off side, then with a whirr of the blade and a small leap, shoveled the delivery high over fine leg for six.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando