da brdice： S Rajesh presents the Plays of the Day for the match between India and England at Kingsmead
S Rajesh in Durban19-Sep-2007
Yuvraj Singh: avenging an indignity © Getty Images
Revenge is sweet
Exactly two weeks ago, Yuvraj Singh had to endure the humiliation ofhaving five sixes smashed off his bowling at The Oval against England.With India unlikely to play England for a while, Yuvraj decided to paythem back, with interest, in their last clash of the season. Stuart Broad happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as Yuvrajwaded into him, launching the ball into orbit not once, not twice, notthrice, but six times. Meanwhile, Dimitri Mascarenhas, who had been theperpetrator of that assault on Yuvraj at The Oval, was quietly thankinghis stars that he hadn’t been called upon to confront Yuvraj in this mood.Welcome to the real world Dimitri
India had only managed 41 from six overs, but the introduction of Mascarenhas was the call to action. Virender Sehwag, whose tally was 15from 22 balls at that stage, turned it on, clipping a four to leg and thenslicing one over point for six. The run-fest had begun.Butterfingers
India had already cantered to 77 after nine overs, but England had anopportunity to stem the rot right there, when Sehwag swung hard butmiscued the shot. The ball spiralled in the air behind the wicketkeeper,and Mascarenhas – that man again – ran in from fine leg, got under theball, and then messed it up completely, not even getting his fingers tothe ball.A slip in the deep
Vikram Solanki top-edged a cut off Joginder Sharma, the ball loopedtowards RP Singh at third man for what should have been a regulationcatch, but there was a twist to this story. Singh slipped, fell, andfrantically flapped his hands at the ball even as it bounced just to hisleft and made its way to the boundary. Four runs to England, minus marksand a rap on the knuckles to Singh for his dodgy shoes.