IPL 6: Match 1 - KKR vs DD - The Quick Flicks
The old chemistry
The talk on the pre-match show was much on the expected lines, except when Sunil Gavaskar, instead of posing his question to Navjot Singh Sidhu, whom the talk was about, diverted his discussion to the other Indian stalwart in the studio, Kapil Dev. Without any link to the topic beforehand, he started praising the great Indian all-rounder. It was all very interesting, thinking about all the history the two have got.
First ball ripper
The start of the Pepsi IPL 2013 is going to remain a memorable one. After much discussions, anecdotes and analysis, when the match finally started, Unmukt Chand, promoted up the order in absence of Sehwag, didn’t have a clue about what hit him. Brett Lee, after mentioning that his Hindi lessons were going “Kuch kuch, abhi tak”, left Chand speechless with the first delivery of the match.
Pitched on middle and off, the ball swung away from Chand and took the top of off-stump. Brett Lee was massive in celebrations. The typical jump almost came off. It was great to see that smile after the dismissal!
Warner falls to a (West) Indian spinner again
After falling 5 times in 8 innings to Indian spinners in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar series, David Warner started brilliantly against the seamers in his ‘preferred’ format. But the introduction of KKR’s ‘mystery’ spinner, Sunil Narine produced an edge and a catch in the slips on cue.
The first ball he faced from the West Indian, he was without a helmet or a cap. But the ball turned, bounced, took the edge and was safely pouched by Kallis at first slip. All the equipment off his head couldn’t have made his head bow so low after that all so familiar frustration.
The rare moment from Ravi Shastri
At the fall of the 5th wicket, Andre Russell came into the middle and faced Narine for his first ball. The teammates at international level would have faced each other in the nets, one presumed. But the first ball was a vicious leg-cutter which left Russell bamboozled. Then boomed Ravi Shastri’s voice on the air, “He played for Jamaica, the ball went to Trinidad.”
The moment however came and went past as fast as a tracer bullet.
Maximums, Yes sir!
The change of sponsors not just brought a change of logos on the ground, but also made the older ones look much better on some occasions. Jayawardene hit the first six of this IPL in the 19th over of Delhi’s innings, and the screen flashed “Yes Bank Maximum”. Yes, “Yes Bank Maximum”. Nobody’s going to forget that any time soon. Waiting not-so-anxiously for a “Yes Bank Maximum” off a no-ball now.
Welcome back from retirement!
No, this one’s not about Brett Lee, who was in fact bowling after almost a 3-month gap, but his compatriot Simon Taufel, who was officiating after announcing his retirement in the T20 World Cup last year.
It’s always great to watch retired cricketers come back and play competitive cricket in the IPL. But for the first time perhaps, an umpire’s return was a much appreciated fact among the fans. His first victim was Gautam Gambhir, who was adjudged LBW off a Johan Botha delivery.
The good guy David Warner
The Test series had portrayed Warner as the aggressor, especially after the Delhi Test, where some altercations took place between him and some Indian players.
In the 2nd innings, with the outcome of the match almost decided, Warner, fielding on the boundary ropes, got into a chat with a ball boy sitting outside the boundary. It was quite a moment, as both were engrossed in a discussion between the deliveries, with smiles being exchanged regularly. Warner made it a point to go to the boy again, who was sporting a huge smile now, after each delivery before other kids started surrounding him, and the over changed.