Lucky three for Anderson
Plays of the Day from the second ODI between New Zealand and India, in Hamilton
Abhishek Purohit in Hamilton
22-Jan-2014
One fell just short of Tim Southee in his followthrough, and Virat Kohli rubbed it in next ball • Associated Press
The triple whammy
For a few overs, during the onslaught by Corey Anderson and Ross Taylor, India just forgot their lengths. The usually reliable Bhuvneshwar Kumar was no exception. He began the 37th over with figures of 5-1-20-0, but his numbers were to soon take a turn for the worse. That was because he hurled down four successive full tosses. Corey Anderson faced the first one, but could only get a single to long-on. Bhuvneshwar wasn't going to be as lucky with the next three. Taylor came on strike and swung the second full toss to the wide long-on boundary. The third one was paddled past short fine-leg. The fourth one was thick-edged to the fine third-man rope, and also gave Taylor his fifty.
For a few overs, during the onslaught by Corey Anderson and Ross Taylor, India just forgot their lengths. The usually reliable Bhuvneshwar Kumar was no exception. He began the 37th over with figures of 5-1-20-0, but his numbers were to soon take a turn for the worse. That was because he hurled down four successive full tosses. Corey Anderson faced the first one, but could only get a single to long-on. Bhuvneshwar wasn't going to be as lucky with the next three. Taylor came on strike and swung the second full toss to the wide long-on boundary. The third one was paddled past short fine-leg. The fourth one was thick-edged to the fine third-man rope, and also gave Taylor his fifty.
The quick reaction
After Taylor was done with Bhuvneshwar, it was Anderson's turn against R Ashwin. Seeing the batsmen were looking to slog-sweep him, Ashwin tried to cramp Anderson for room by firing a quick one into the batsman. Anderson had hardly any room to swing his arms, but even as the ball was almost onto him, he burst into a slog-sweep that sent the ball soaring into the stand beyond the deep-midwicket boundary. When you have power and such sharp reflexes, why bother about anything else?
After Taylor was done with Bhuvneshwar, it was Anderson's turn against R Ashwin. Seeing the batsmen were looking to slog-sweep him, Ashwin tried to cramp Anderson for room by firing a quick one into the batsman. Anderson had hardly any room to swing his arms, but even as the ball was almost onto him, he burst into a slog-sweep that sent the ball soaring into the stand beyond the deep-midwicket boundary. When you have power and such sharp reflexes, why bother about anything else?
The emphatic response
Virat Kohli likes to stretch right forward to defend but in the 14th over, his feet did not travel in accordance with the arc of the bat. The ball bounced, took the inside edge, hit the pad and popped up. The bowler Tim Southee tried desperately to reach it before it fell short. The batsman's response was outrageous. Next ball, a determined Kohli stepped down the track and slammed Southee over extra cover for six.
Virat Kohli likes to stretch right forward to defend but in the 14th over, his feet did not travel in accordance with the arc of the bat. The ball bounced, took the inside edge, hit the pad and popped up. The bowler Tim Southee tried desperately to reach it before it fell short. The batsman's response was outrageous. Next ball, a determined Kohli stepped down the track and slammed Southee over extra cover for six.
The long hop
There is plenty of sting in Kohli's batting but there is none in his bowling. A quirky action is probably the only eye-catching aspect of the latter. The same action can lead to the most innocuous of deliveries coming out of his hand. In the 17th over, he bowled one that was so short it took an age to reach Martin Guptill on the slow Seddon Park pitch. When it did, even the recently out-of-sorts Guptill was more than ready to play dispatcher, and heaved it high over midwicket.
There is plenty of sting in Kohli's batting but there is none in his bowling. A quirky action is probably the only eye-catching aspect of the latter. The same action can lead to the most innocuous of deliveries coming out of his hand. In the 17th over, he bowled one that was so short it took an age to reach Martin Guptill on the slow Seddon Park pitch. When it did, even the recently out-of-sorts Guptill was more than ready to play dispatcher, and heaved it high over midwicket.
Abhishek Purohit is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo