Nath's leap of faith

Rohit Sharma and Praveen Kumar are good friends. Praveen has even gone to the extent of saying Rohit revived his career by signing him as a replacement, after going unsold at the auction, with Mumbai Indians in 2014. But their competitive streak on the field was unmistakable. Praveen went past Rohit's outside edge with a succession of superbly executed outswingers in the first over of Mumbai's innings. Dhawal Kulkarni then reaped the rewards by getting Rohit with an inswinger, which he mistimed to square leg. It was a clear case of one bowler setting up a wicket for another.

Dinesh Karthik had struggled to gather the ball in Lions' last match against Pune Supergiants, and had missed at least two straightforward run-out chances. On Saturday, his wicketkeeping was tested, especially against Shadab Jakati, and he came out with flying colours. A drifter that swerved back in foxed the batsmen, but not Karthik. One such delivery to Buttler, who played for the turn, held its line as Karthik, who moved swiftly to his left, stayed low to gather the ball and whip the bails off.

Dwayne Bravo's confidence resonates in every aspect of his game, even when he is hit for a six and a four of successive deliveries. Off the fifth ball of his final over, Tim Southee missed the slog to a legcutter, but decided to steal a bye. Karthik lobbed a throw to Bravo, who was halfway down the pitch. In a split second, he had to decide if he wanted to risk an overthrow or go for the run-out. He went for the latter option, firing a direct hit at the non-strikers end. The nonchalance of it all was the hallmark of the dismissal.

In a match that was decided off the last ball, Akshdeep Nath's leap at deep midwicket was a definite game-changer. Krunal Pandya, who found the sweet spot off the slog, was certain the ball would clear the rope, until he saw a puny man throw himself like a goalkeeper. Nath's momentum nearly took him over, but he still stuck his hand out. The ball stuck, and Nath's presence of mind took over, plopping the ball back into the field of play to save four runs for his team.

In the 13th over of the Lions innings, Jasprit Bumrah surprised Bravo with a short ball. Bravo set himself up for the pull, but, perhaps surprised by the pace of the ball, changed his mind and decided to ramp it over the vacant slip cordon. Having lost his balance playing two different shots to the same ball, he was left floored on the pitch as bowler and wicketkeeper went up for a caught-behind appeal. Bravo had a look of disbelief when the finger came up, and replays confirmed he hadn't edged the ball. He finally trudged off shaking his head.