Praveen's quicker ball, and no place for friendships
Plays of the Day from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai
Sidharth Monga
25-Apr-2015
Shikhar Dhawan, in partnership with David Warner, took apart his friend Harbhajan Singh • BCCI
The change-up
Praveen Kumar loves bowling the first over of an innings, but in the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack he is option number four. It doesn't swing that much when you bowl second change, but Praveen can show he can swallow his ego. In his first over he beat Lendl Simmons with two slower legcutters that were short and outside off. Unmukt Chand would have seen both these balls from the other end, and would have had the slower balls at the back of his head when Praveen bowled short at regulation pace to end the over. Chand was late into the pull, the ball hit the sticker on the bat, and ended up in the lap of midwicket inside the circle.
Praveen Kumar loves bowling the first over of an innings, but in the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack he is option number four. It doesn't swing that much when you bowl second change, but Praveen can show he can swallow his ego. In his first over he beat Lendl Simmons with two slower legcutters that were short and outside off. Unmukt Chand would have seen both these balls from the other end, and would have had the slower balls at the back of his head when Praveen bowled short at regulation pace to end the over. Chand was late into the pull, the ball hit the sticker on the bat, and ended up in the lap of midwicket inside the circle.
The overthrow
We saw in how Rahul Tewatia ran out M Vijay recently that spinners are actively looking to catch non-strikers short if the ball is hit back at them. At Wankhede Stadium, Simmons pushed one hard back towards Karn, who tried to deflect it on to the stumps behind him. He missed the stumps by inches and conceded a single to long-on. Replays also showed that Rohit Sharma, the non-striker, was not as dreamy with his backing-up as Vijay had been. Rohit had slid his bat back in by the time the ball went over the stumps.
We saw in how Rahul Tewatia ran out M Vijay recently that spinners are actively looking to catch non-strikers short if the ball is hit back at them. At Wankhede Stadium, Simmons pushed one hard back towards Karn, who tried to deflect it on to the stumps behind him. He missed the stumps by inches and conceded a single to long-on. Replays also showed that Rohit Sharma, the non-striker, was not as dreamy with his backing-up as Vijay had been. Rohit had slid his bat back in by the time the ball went over the stumps.
The penalty
After having hit the top of Simmons' middle stump in the 13th over - redemption after going for two fours - Dale Steyn went to work on the new batsman Kieron Pollard. Steyn had his tail, and his pace, up. The first ball hit the sticker of the bat as Pollard looked to defend off the front foot. Steyn then dug the next one in short, getting it to rise towards the chest of the big man. Pollard fended, once again uncertainly. You would have expected one full and fast at his toes now, Steyn wanted to do the same, but missed his line by six inches. Instead of middle the ball ended at the base of leg stump, and Pollard got enough bat on it to beat short fine leg and take four. Margin of error for bowlers is almost non-existent at times.
After having hit the top of Simmons' middle stump in the 13th over - redemption after going for two fours - Dale Steyn went to work on the new batsman Kieron Pollard. Steyn had his tail, and his pace, up. The first ball hit the sticker of the bat as Pollard looked to defend off the front foot. Steyn then dug the next one in short, getting it to rise towards the chest of the big man. Pollard fended, once again uncertainly. You would have expected one full and fast at his toes now, Steyn wanted to do the same, but missed his line by six inches. Instead of middle the ball ended at the base of leg stump, and Pollard got enough bat on it to beat short fine leg and take four. Margin of error for bowlers is almost non-existent at times.
The unfriendly treatment
Harbhajan Singh and Shikhar Dhawan are good friends. Harbhajan calls Dhawan "Gabbar", and you can see on Twitter the joy he derives from Dhawan's success. In the brief duel on the field, though, Dhawan showed he knew his friend's game better than the other way around. Dhawan and David Warner are two left-hand openers, and in defence of a small total Mumbai went to their No. 1 offspinner with the new ball. Dhawan, though, played him with aplomb: caressing the first ball of the innings for four, and reverse-sweeping the first ball of Harbhajan's second over for four. More unkind shots were to follow. Harbhajan to Dhawan: 23 off nine balls.
Harbhajan Singh and Shikhar Dhawan are good friends. Harbhajan calls Dhawan "Gabbar", and you can see on Twitter the joy he derives from Dhawan's success. In the brief duel on the field, though, Dhawan showed he knew his friend's game better than the other way around. Dhawan and David Warner are two left-hand openers, and in defence of a small total Mumbai went to their No. 1 offspinner with the new ball. Dhawan, though, played him with aplomb: caressing the first ball of the innings for four, and reverse-sweeping the first ball of Harbhajan's second over for four. More unkind shots were to follow. Harbhajan to Dhawan: 23 off nine balls.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo