da dobrowin： Plays of the day from the Twenty20 match between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Rajasthan Royals on April 26, 2008
Cricinfo staff26-Apr-2008
Shane Watson: the new Flintoff? (file photo) © Getty Images
Hero to zero: A huge cheer greets Rahul Dravid before he faced hisfirst ball. It turned out to be the only delivery he faced too, as hismiscued pull went straight to deep square leg. His international record inBangalore is a wretched one, and there’s been no reversal of fortune inthe IPL either.No pulling power: The Bangalore boys were on the pull as eagerly asbachelors on a Friday night, and most of them met the same fate -dejection. Dravid was followed by Jacques Kallis and Ross Taylor inperishing to the cross-bat swish across the line. No, those pristinecheerleaders weren’t impressed either.Six or out?: In backyard games, six-and-out is a popular form ofdismissal, and the source of much argument. There was a similar situation atthe Chinnaswamy Stadium after Virat Kohli walloped a delivery fromSiddharth Trivedi to deep midwicket. His Under-19 team-mate, RavindraJadeja, made ground to his left before a big leap, grab and acrobaticroll near the boundary. Though he made the catch his handjust brushed the plastic that covered the rope. After all that effort, it was a six.Praveen the spoiler: Shane Warne had immaculate figures of 2-1-2-1at one stage, but a streaky straight six and a huge biff over midwicketruined them somewhat. But for Praveen’s big hitting, the RoyalChallengers’ embarrassment would have been as acute as it was on theopening day.Home leggie turns it on: After missing the first two games, AnilKumble finally played his first IPL game. A huge roar went up when Dravidgave him the ball after the seventh over, and though Shane Watson clubbedhis first two balls for four, what followed was typical Kumble. Accurateand persistent, he was the only consolation in another poor effort fromthe home side.Is Manpower the new Flintoff?: In Kuala Lampur 18 months ago,Matthew Hayden jokingly suggested that Watson could be part of Manpower.It appears though that the man himself as loftier ambitions. “I’d love tobe the next Flintoff,” he said before his last injury crisis and a superbunbeaten 61 to follow a tidy spell of 2 for 20 was a good way to reinforcehis status as the IPL’s bargain of the season ($125,000).