A barrage of fours, and the late first six
Plays of the Day from the Champions League T20 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and South Australia
Daniel Harris hit nine fours in ten deliveries early in his innings • Associated Press
The fours
Daniel Harris made it clear from the start that he was a man in a hurry, swinging hard at everything. There was little reward initially and he scored only 6 off 7 balls. Then it fell in place for him, and he unleashed an unstoppable torrent of boundaries. Nine of his next ten deliveries were dispatched for four as he dismantled S Aravind and Dirk Nannes. By the end of the carnage, Harris was 43 off 17.
Daniel Harris made it clear from the start that he was a man in a hurry, swinging hard at everything. There was little reward initially and he scored only 6 off 7 balls. Then it fell in place for him, and he unleashed an unstoppable torrent of boundaries. Nine of his next ten deliveries were dispatched for four as he dismantled S Aravind and Dirk Nannes. By the end of the carnage, Harris was 43 off 17.
The first six
You'd think a team that scored at nearly 11 runs an over through the 20 overs would have clouted plenty of sixes. South Australia, though, had only five of them in their innings, and the first of those didn't come until the 16th over. It was Callum Ferguson who struck the blow, hammering the hapless Aravind over wide long-on.
You'd think a team that scored at nearly 11 runs an over through the 20 overs would have clouted plenty of sixes. South Australia, though, had only five of them in their innings, and the first of those didn't come until the 16th over. It was Callum Ferguson who struck the blow, hammering the hapless Aravind over wide long-on.
The drop
In the 19th over, Dan Christian mowed a length ball towards deep midwicket. The shot didn't have enough power on it and was headed straight for the man in the deep, Mayank Agarwal. Christian was so certain that he was going to be dismissed that he cursed himself, and stopped trying to complete the single he had started, in preparation for the walk to the pavilion. Agarwal, though, shelled an absolute sitter, and Christian celebrated the reprieve with five boundaries in the next over.
In the 19th over, Dan Christian mowed a length ball towards deep midwicket. The shot didn't have enough power on it and was headed straight for the man in the deep, Mayank Agarwal. Christian was so certain that he was going to be dismissed that he cursed himself, and stopped trying to complete the single he had started, in preparation for the walk to the pavilion. Agarwal, though, shelled an absolute sitter, and Christian celebrated the reprieve with five boundaries in the next over.
The drop -2
South Australia's fielding standards were generally far superior to those of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Which made it hard to explain Ferguson dropping a straightforward chance from Kohli in the 15th over. Shaun Tait fired in a leg-stump full toss, which Kohli edged towards midwicket - it didn't go too high, or too far and Ferguson had plenty of time to get under it and he positioned himself perfectly to pouch. Inexplicably, it popped out of his hands, and bounced on his nose on the way to the ground. Ferguson couldn't put a finger on how he missed it: "Obviously it's a big wicket to… to … obviously, it was a drop, it was me, which is pretty disappointing," is all he could offer by way of explanation. Luckily for him and South Australia, Kohli was dismissed later in the over.
South Australia's fielding standards were generally far superior to those of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Which made it hard to explain Ferguson dropping a straightforward chance from Kohli in the 15th over. Shaun Tait fired in a leg-stump full toss, which Kohli edged towards midwicket - it didn't go too high, or too far and Ferguson had plenty of time to get under it and he positioned himself perfectly to pouch. Inexplicably, it popped out of his hands, and bounced on his nose on the way to the ground. Ferguson couldn't put a finger on how he missed it: "Obviously it's a big wicket to… to … obviously, it was a drop, it was me, which is pretty disappointing," is all he could offer by way of explanation. Luckily for him and South Australia, Kohli was dismissed later in the over.
The collision
When Michael Klinger and Tom Cooper collided attempting a catch, the first thoughts were about the horrific Steve Waugh-Jason Gillespie collision in 1999. The incident took place in the seventh over, when Chris Gayle miscued the ball towards mid-off. Klinger moved across from extra cover while Cooper ran in from long-off and clearly neither heard the call from the other, perhaps because of the buzz in the Chinnaswamy due to Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan's rapidfire start. In any case, Klinger hung on to an overhead catch, before colliding with Cooper, who try to move out at the last moment. Klinger seemed to be hit in the thigh by Cooper's knee, and he rolled over in pain, and had to be helped off the field by the physio.
When Michael Klinger and Tom Cooper collided attempting a catch, the first thoughts were about the horrific Steve Waugh-Jason Gillespie collision in 1999. The incident took place in the seventh over, when Chris Gayle miscued the ball towards mid-off. Klinger moved across from extra cover while Cooper ran in from long-off and clearly neither heard the call from the other, perhaps because of the buzz in the Chinnaswamy due to Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan's rapidfire start. In any case, Klinger hung on to an overhead catch, before colliding with Cooper, who try to move out at the last moment. Klinger seemed to be hit in the thigh by Cooper's knee, and he rolled over in pain, and had to be helped off the field by the physio.
The yorker
With Tait's bowling, you never know what to expect. Would he go for plenty as he did in his previous match against the Warriors or would he rip through the line-up with his express pace? It all fell in place for Tait today. He could have removed both Dilshan and Kohli, who were pooh-poohing the South Australian bowling with some sublime strokeplay, in his second over. The highlight of his spell, though, was the yorker to dismiss Dilshan in the penultimate over, with the match in balance. It was a searing delivery that swung in, past Dilshan's defence to take home in to the bottom of middle stump.
With Tait's bowling, you never know what to expect. Would he go for plenty as he did in his previous match against the Warriors or would he rip through the line-up with his express pace? It all fell in place for Tait today. He could have removed both Dilshan and Kohli, who were pooh-poohing the South Australian bowling with some sublime strokeplay, in his second over. The highlight of his spell, though, was the yorker to dismiss Dilshan in the penultimate over, with the match in balance. It was a searing delivery that swung in, past Dilshan's defence to take home in to the bottom of middle stump.
Siddarth Ravindran is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo