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Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Mumbai
Pollock trumps Smith
Cricinfo staff
May 7, 2008
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Graeme Smith was dismissed in a bizarre manner by Shaun Pollock (file photo)
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Pollock trumps his former captain
It was one of the mini-battles of the day: Shaun Pollock vs Graeme Smith. Having tied Smith down in his first over with accurate line and length, Pollock returned in the next over to deliver smartly disguised slower one. Smith came down the track to drive, missed the ball completely, and perhaps thinking that he was bowled, began to walk off without looking back. He did not realize that the ball had missed the stumps and the wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale had fumbled it. Takawale had enough time to recover and stump Smith, who was walking briskly towards the bowler's end. But Pollock's excitement was multifold as he jumped in air and repeatedly swung his arms in child-like excitement.
Keep it straight and simple
Ashish Nehra may not have Dale Steyn's pace but he can swing the ball.Yusuf Pathan was facing his first ball from Nehra and attempted the ambitious slog over deep midwicket straightaway. He missed and Nehra swung the ball back into him and hit the stumps. A few overs later Shane Watson, who threatened to blast Mumbai away, also paid the price for a horizontal-bat heave against Dwayne Bravo, who had gone round the wicket to angle the ball away from the right-hander.
Terrific Takawale
Tracking the flight of the ball, while running towards the boundary, is never an easy task for a wicketkeeper especially when he is squatting to begin with. Yogesh Takawale displayed agility and excellent judgement as he set off immediately with his eyes fixed on the ball after Ravindra Jadeja had top-edged Dhawal Kulkarni over his head. Takawale ran as close as he could and dived to cover the remaining distance to pouch an outstanding catch. It was one of the four dismissals he affected.
No cause for cheer
One set of cheerleaders were unusually quiet today and it wasn't because of crowd trouble or because they hurt some conservative politician's sentiments. The three sets of Rajasthan Royals cheer girls, dressed in white, yellow and red, were left seated for the majority of the first innings as Rajasthan crashed and burned for 103, the lowest first-innings score of the IPL.
The name's Warne
Takawale was having a superb match until he came face to face with Shane Warne. He prepared to face the first ball, perhaps expected the leg break, and shaped up to pull. Warne ripped in the flipper on off stump, cramped the batsman for room and the ball brushed the pad on its way through to hitting off stump.
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