IPL Eliminator emotional rollercoaster: Boult delivers a masterclass, Powell flies for catch of the match & Kohli turns sharp shooter in run-outs

IPL Eliminator emotional rollercoaster: Boult delivers a masterclass, Powell flies for catch of the match & Kohli turns sharp shooter in run-outs

Thunder Boult

In his first over, Trent Boult displayed his absolute mastery with the white new ball. The first ball was back of length, staying a bit on the leg-side, the next was a centimetre or two further up, which Faf du Plessis comfortably defended. The third landed more or less on the same length, a bit wide off the off-stump and swung back sharply. The fourth was the beast, which veered devilishly into Du Plessis, who lost his balance in the process of digging the boot-crusher, and fell on the crease. The ball began in the line of the middle stump and by the time it graced some part of his bat, it was just outside the leg-stump. Boult broke into that waspish smile of his. The eyes of Du Plessis told the story, white and big, as though he had spotted the devil. He somehow gathered the presence of mind to get off the strike, out of necessity rather than need perhaps.

Powell-play

It’s the side-on camera that captures the dynamic beauty of Rovman Powell’s lunge to grab Faf du Plessis. There was little hesitation, whether to leap, miss the ball and risk a four, or choose the safer option of blocking the ball and preventing a four. He dialed the former and went for the first choice, as though it was his only one. The smartness was in the timing. He chose the perfect moment to dive, as though he knew the geometry of it, the amount of ground he had to cover, where his palms should be, the distance he had to jump and the hang-time. The legs were fully stretched, every muscle in happy synchronization, the hands flew out in one fluid motion, the palms, like the Venus flytrap, letting its prey come onto it, and swallowing it at the perfect moment. The landing was incredibly smooth for a big-framed cricketer, on his knees first rather than the elbow, reducing the risk of the ball bobbing out of his hands. And he threw the ball back to the umpire with throwback Caribbean nonchalance. As though it was just a mundane piece of work.

Slog sweep lets Kohli down

One of the main reasons for the fantastic season that Virat Kohli has had is his slog sweep against spin. He had said after the match against Punjab Kings, "I brought out the slog-sweep against the spinners. I know I can hit it as I have done in the past. I am always looking to expose that side of the field against spin." He said it was about convincing himself that he needed to take those risks. So, after a 6-run over from Ashwin, Kohli decided RCB needed to get a move on. In front of him was a familiar foe in Yuzvendra Chahal. He landed a full ball in Kohli's arc but where he was expecting a little bit of turn, the ball went straight on. Where the turn would have seen him connect with the sweet spot, this went off the toe-end. It still travelled the distance but the height wasn't there and the fielder at deep midwicket did the rest. Delight for former RCB man Chahal, disappointment for RCB's superstar on a big night as the right intent didn't meet with right execution.

What came first?

It is not quite as difficult to solve as the chicken-or-egg paradox, but the problem facing the TV Umpire Anil Chaudhary was to decide whether the ball hit the pad directly or the bat hit the pad. For starters, after being given out first-ball, Dinesh Karthik himself didn't seem sure whether he should review or not. He had a wry smile on his face, took some time and decided to take it anyway, presumably because the match situation was dire for RCB. But fine, that's no reason for an umpire to make a call. But after seeing the splitscreen and then the UltraEdge spikes, Chaudhary decided it was an edge off the bat. Incredibly, almost everyone else on the field was perplexed. The spike came before the ball hit the pad, while the bat was jamming onto the inside area of the pad. Bowler Avesh Khan seemed stunned, Kumar Sangakkara was perplexed off the field. The commentators were flabbergasted with Ravi Shastri later calling it a shocker. The one man that mattered though called it not out.

Throw it like Virat

'Kohli ko bowling do!' is a chant that we have now become used to at the stands. But in this IPL, he has legitimately delivered such unreal runouts, that they ought to be counted as his wickets. After a sensational effort in Dharamsala, he did it again on Wednesday in Ahmedabad, This time it was all about the pick up and release. Riyan Parag turned out to deep square off a short ball from Cameron Green, and was right in thinking there was two runs to be taken.

Kohli got around to the ball to his left so quickly, but what followed was a sensational transfer of weight to pick up the ball with both his hands and release it so quickly without any loss of momentum. That right there was the reason Dhruv Jurel was caught short despite a dive at the non-striker's end. You could point out to a brief moment of hesitation on the turn, a longer radius or even a slightly laboured dive but against any other fielder, Jurel would have been safe. Not Virat.

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