da spicy bet： Plays of the Day for the 17th match, between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Brabourne Stadium
da poker： Cricinfo staff22-Mar-2010Fumbling times for Tare
Twice in the first over of the match, Aditya Tare failed to collect the ball cleanly. On both occasions the ball arrived at a slower pace than the Mumbai glove-man would’ve expected, but both times Tare was besides the line of the delivery instead of lining himself behind. He continued to fumble frequently, adding to the bowlers’ and Sachin Tendulkar’s frustration. Three overs before the Kolkata innings came to an end, Ryan McLaren’s attempted yorker to Owais Shah went wide, but Tare was once again was slow off his haunches, and his dive came late as the opposition picked a few more extras.Simon says not out
Dwayne Bravo picked a return ball from Chris Gayle and immediatlely threw at the stumps, finding the Jamaican halfway down the pitch. But Gayle, having been sent back by Sourav Ganguly, charged back home to beat Bravo’s direct throw in the nick of time. Simon Taufel, the square-leg umpire, did the right thing to re-arrange the bails and avoid cutting the rhythm of the match, even if the entire Mumbai team pleaded him to refer the decision to the third umpire.Bravo, bravo
After his first over in the second spell went for 13 runs, Bravo, before passing the ball to the captain, bounced it hard on the pitch in disgust but the rebound came back swiftly to hit him flush on the face. Bravo didn’t wince, and the consummate cricketer that he is, was furious at himself for leaking runs.”Sky is your limit”, Dinda to Gayle
During the batting time out taken by Kolkata, 12th man Ashok Dinda rushed into the field, along with Dav Whatmore. As the Kolkata coach got busy with Owais Shah, Dinda threw the towel to Gayle and started pointing towards the top tier of the CCI pavilion, inspiring the West Indian to hit over the sky. Though the distance was within manageable limits for the 6’4″ tall West Indian, it was a big challenge considering the Mumbai bowlers were firing yorker-length deliveries at him consistently; in the end Dinda’s demands went unfulfilled.Hazare presses the panic button
On the final delivery of the Kolkata innings, Zaheer Khan fired in a searing inswinging yorker against Gayle. Gayle had moved a step down the legside when the ball hit him on the toe of his back leg, which was easily half a yard, if not a full one, down the leg side. But the umpire Sanjay Hazare, reluctant initially, finally raised his finger after Zaheer started to appeal incessantly.Kartik goes blind, makes Dada angry
Murali Kartik, Kolkata’s best bowler, made an impact immediately by picking a wicket in his first over. And in the following over, he nearly snatched the prized wicket of Tendulkar, as the Mumbai captain’s leading edge flew back towards Kartik. However, Kartik failed to sight the ball at all and came up with a late attempt which proved to be unsatisfactory. Ganguly, standing at cover shrieked at his bowler knowing well it would be the most important turning point of the match as Tendulkar was on 41 and the match still hung in the balance.Ganguly gives extra workouts
Throughout the Mumbai innings bowlers argued with Ganguly about the fields he was setting. One fine example was when Angelo Mathews pushed Shane Bond back towards the third man and positioned Owais Shah at short-fine leg. The very next instant, Ganguly got Bond inside the circle while sending Shah towards fine leg. Mathews argued strongly, waving his hands, forcing Ganguly to reverse his decision. Ganguly’s indecisiveness only added to the workload of his fielders.
