Feature

The free hit and no-ball, and Rizwan's redemption

Plays of the day from the first ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Dambulla

Deivarayan Muthu
11-Jul-2015
Mohammad Rizwan, a keeper by trade, showed off his reflexes on the field  •  AFP

Mohammad Rizwan, a keeper by trade, showed off his reflexes on the field  •  AFP

The no-ball and free hit
Tillakaratne Dilshan's 65-ball stay was scratchier than a pair of undercrackers. He could have been out on his sixth ball had Mohammad Irfan not overstepped. Irfan enlisted the help of his height to generate big extra bounce outside off and induce a nick, which was pouched by Sarfraz Ahmed, only for the umpire to find that Irfan had overstepped after checking. With a free hit for the taking, Dilshan could have swatted, lashed, clouted or unfurled his signature 'Dilscoop'. Instead he miscued it straight down the throat of mid-on.
Rizwan's redemption
Mohammad Rizwan, a keeper by trade, showed off his agility on the field. Debutant Milinda Siriwardana sliced Shoaib Malik high in the air towards long-off. Mohammad Rizwan hared across to his right, put in a full-length dive as the ball stuck in his right hand before it popped out; the momentum causing both Rizwan and the ball to trickle away to the boundary. Eight balls later, Rizwan redeemed himself, running in from cover, settling under another sliced hit, this one sending Siriwardana back.
The review not taken
When Babar Azam was rapped on the front pad in line with the stumps after missing a sweep, he was given out lbw. Hafeez, the senior partner, insisted on a review but Azam nipped it firmly in the bud. Eventually, it proved the right call as projections showed that the ball would have crashed into middle and off.
The deft leg-glance
Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal summoned some powerful blows during their 82-run partnership but Mathews' deft glance off Hafeez in the 39th over stood out. He looped it up but drifted down the leg, Mathews waited on it before helping it fine on the leg side with minimalist touch. The ball beat the man in deep, skipping away like a pebble on water.

Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo