Walks, moonwalks and a new-born giraffe

Sunny days: T20 edition

For a man named after Sunil Gavaskar, Sunil Narine takes rather too many risks with the bat. Every other ball is dispatched to the fence - over 80% of his runs this season have come in boundaries - and he plays with the air of a man who couldn't care less about maxims like "put a price on your wicket". This week, he rewrote the record books, equalling Yusuf Pathan's three-year old record for the fastest fifty in the IPL. Chris Lynn, no mean striker of the ball himself, was at the other end watching the Trinidadian go to town on Royal Challengers Bangalore's hapless attack.

Who wants apples?

A cricket ball has been called many things over the years - nut, conker, projectile and, most commonly, cherry. Considering the history, if at all any fruit had earned the right to feature alongside a red cricket ball, it is the clichéd cherry. Curiously though, for a tournament played with white balls, two models stood with a basketful of red apples, offered a couple to umpires walking out on to the field, before brandishing the shining white object that stood out. It was one of those IPL moments that one wants to erase from memory as soon as humanly possible.

The return of (less than 100%) Lynnsanity

Lynn had been out for the better part of this year's IPL with a shoulder injury, but it felt like none of that had ever happened when he resumed from where had left off for Kolkata Knight Riders. On his return, he put together a record 105 runs in the Powerplay with Narine against Royal Challengers Bangalore, before slamming 84 against Kings XI Punjab. All of this while professing not to be 100% fit, a possibility that should send shivers down the spines of opposition bowling attacks.

Spelling bee comes to the IPL

A couple of weeks after the controversy was put to bed, Kieron Pollard tried his hand at a Dilscoop. The ball caught the outside edge and instead flew over short third man for four. It is in such moments that you believe in the power of destiny, as the familiar voice of Sanjay Manjrekar took over the commentary. "Can you imagine Pollard playing the Dilscoop, showing his r-a-n-g-e, range?", he spelt out, as peals of laughter erupted from the back of the commentary box.

Amla's walk off the park

Hashim Amla has been in sublime form this IPL, showing off a side of his game not many Indian fans have known him for. Against Royal Challengers, after feathering the faintest of edges into Kedar Jadhav's gloves with his score on 1, Amla took matters into his own hands and walked off the field. The bowling side's appeal was as feeble as the edge itself, as the South African did his bit to push his side up the points table for IPL's Fair Play Award. In retrospect, Amla would be a happy man, for his side went on to win that game, before blowing the next one, maintaining a 100% loss record in games where he has scored a hundred this season.

Jackson's failed moonwalk

First team opportunities have been scarce for Sheldon Jackson at Kolkata Knight Riders, and he was visibly upset at wasting one, when his back foot trod on to the stumps after flicking one to square leg off Washington Sundar. It was the first hit-wicket dismissal of this IPL season, and one of the few times when a Jackson's twinkle-toed footwork has ended in a damp squib.

See ball, whack ball

Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant proved once again why they are touted to be two of Indian cricket's brightest young stars, as they wolfed down a target of 208 with 15 balls remaining. It was an exhibition of ferocious hitting in which both batsmen succeeded with the "see ball, smash ball" approach to the chase, as Pant explained in his post-match interview with iplt20.com. Interviewing them, while jokingly exhorting them to follow his style, was Rahul Dravid, who was glad they had not adopted his famed stonewalling approach while negotiating the steep chase.

Attention? No, stand at ease

Things went downhill for Pant, though, as he fell to one of the most bizarre dismissals in the tournament's history later in the week. After an in-dipper from Pradeep Sangwan rapped him on his pads outside the leg stump, Pant was busy looking at the umpire, while still out of his crease. With the ball rolling to first slip, an alert Suresh Raina quickly picked it up and fired a dart at the stumps. By the time Pant realised it, he was caught out of his ground by the direct hit, and could only walk away.

Earlier in the evening, Dwayne Smith was run-out to one of the slowest, most innocuous throws you'll ever see in cricket. Amit Mishra looped one from short fine leg to Mohammed Shami, who was standing near the bowling crease. Seeing Smith ambling along merrily, Shami spotted an opportunity, before shying at the stumps. The Bajan's bat was in the air, outside the crease, and an easy run turned into a comical run-out.

Commentary gem of the week

This week's pick is an unintentional nod to #tbt a.k.a throwback Thursday, from the global voice of franchise T20 cricket, Danny Morrison. As a Lendl Simmons inside edge squirted down the legside, Morrison went, "Oh, luckily, it has found Sandeep Patil". After a short pause, during which the years quickly rolled forward to the present, he clarified, "..ah, it's Sandeep Sharma".

The new-born giraffe

You wouldn't think it is possible to summarize a *333-game professional career in a single over, but Ishant Sharma came close to doing so against Kings XI Punjab. An outside edged four, a sharp bouncer that beat the batsman, only for it to be called no-ball, followed by an absent-minded amble down the pitch, failing to get back to the stumps in time for a run-out opportunity. In between all this, there was time for him to slip and fall down on the pitch during his follow through. Matthew Hayden, on air, summed it up perfectly - "he reminds me of a newly born giraffe, clumsy with his feet". A zoological analogy worth remembering, then.

An earlier version of this article had mentioned Ishant Sharma's professional appearances as 503. The error has been amended.