Bhuvneshwar's ripper, and Rahul's persistence

In every match he plays, there is at least one Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery that makes you stop and say 'wow'. Often, it is the way batsmen are caught by surprise that magnifies the impact. In his second over, Bhuvneshwar bowled Parthiv Patel with a delivery that did not do what the batsman expected it to - swing back in. The next ball did, though. It swerved back sharply into Cameron White, with the same result. White was stuck on the crease and was in no position to keep it out.

Quinton de Kock was considered good enough for the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kumar Sangakkara to drop himself in favour of the 20-year old South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman. White, the stand-in captain, said Sangakkara would not have played in Chennai against Chennai Super Kings (on April 25) anyway, so effectively, de Kock had three games to get going. He started disappointingly in his first game, making 2 off 8 before holing out to Mitchell Marsh at cover.

Sunrisers held back big-hitter Thisara Perera, but they had to send him with the score at 41 for 5 in the tenth over. Perera had half the innings to himself, but his approach did not take that into account. He almost yorked himself trying to drive his first ball, went for another drive off his third and got away with a single to third man. He was out off his fourth ball, going for another big drive and edging to the keeper.

In the tenth over, Karan Sharma tried to turn a Rahul Sharma legbreak to the leg side, but it popped up in the air close to the crease. Rahul's appeal for leg-before to umpire Asad Rauf went on and on. He paused, then started shouting again. He took a break once more, and would have probably resumed but Rauf was convinced. Rahul's team-mates did not seem too interested in the appeal but, as replays showed, the ball had hit the flap of the pad in front of the stumps.