The defensive free hit, and the catch that wasn't

Playing a ball to its merits is a rule that batsmen occasionally sidestep. They are invited to do so against a free hit. With no chance of getting out caught or bowled, scoops, glides, ramps and reverse pulls become the norm. Taskin Ahmed put in a little too much on a bouncer, and although it was an excellent ball, he had overstepped. The umpire circled his hand over his head indicating what was to come. Virat Kohli took strike again, to a short-of-a-length delivery outside off. Would he ramp it over the keeper, cut it through point, or forehand it down the ground? Nope. Just a back foot defence to point. A tribute to the text book. Or, maybe he just forgot it was a free hit.

The saying goes that a ball follows a fielder when he is having a bad day. But half-volleys? A poor shot had brought Kohli in during the first over, and his concentration was in avoiding any more of those. So Bangladesh got away with a few in the slot.

In the second over of the chase, it seemed Kohli had broken the jinx. He dived forward from mid-off to get under a mistimed slash from Tamim Iqbal and came up with a triumphant leap. Kohli was claiming the catch, but the umpires were unsure. They thought the ball had hit ground a few inches before he had taken it and asked for a second opinion from the TV official. All available camera angles were inconclusive and Bangladesh got away with another half-volley.

The understudy's calmness

As soon as Shikhar Dhawan realised that he had gone past a spinning Nasir Hossain delivery, his instinct was to return to the crease. But he had tickled the ball, and Litton Das moved smartly to his left to take the catch. So cool he was that he did not even attempt a stumping. It was also quick recovery from the new wicketkeeper who had dropped a difficult chance down the legside just two balls earlier. The Dhawan catch was also redemption for the man who replaced Mushfiqur Rahim behind the stumps for this game.

The coincidence

The TV broadcast had only just shown the collision between Mustafizur Rahman and MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in split screen, and also how the newcomer was not meandering across the pitch in this game. The fines on both Mustafizur and Dhoni has been news in both countries. Within a few minutes of those replays, Mustafizur conjured up a slower delivery that baffled Dhoni. He could only lay bat on it as far as the close cover fielder, Soumya Sarkar, who took a few steps to his right and completed a simple catch.

The improvisation

Bangladesh were running away with the chase. Mirpur knew it, judging from the never-ending Mexican waves and the robust Mauka Mauka taunts. The target had just tipped under fifty when Mushfiqur Rahim decided to stretch his luck. A dab to deep backward point had found Rohit Sharma reasonably quickly, but Mushfiqur still went for a second. The throw flew in, perhaps not as flat as it could have been. Dhoni, having sensed it, jumped in front of the stumps, made a gap with his legs, and patted the ball down between them and onto the stumps. A stylish run-out, right down to the calm raise of the hand to the square leg umpire.