Ramela's opposite day
Omphile Ramela strode out at No. 3 for the second time in T20s. Danny Morrison, from the commentary box, tipped him as preferring long-format cricket. A T20 strike rate of 88.16 corroborated that. But the fourth over from Doug Bollinger amended that impression. Ramela dispatched a bouncer over the square-leg boundary. If that wasn't emphatic enough, the next ball, which was fuller, was pummeled to the mid-off boundary. Bollinger's length was like a pendulum - it went short again - and lacked pace. Ramela's pull did not. Three balls, three different plans and 16 runs later, it was time for the slower ball. Ramela was on too much adrenaline not to slog and lost his middle stump and walked back with more than twice his career strike rate - 190.90. Opposite day had begun.
Levi's opposite day
Joe Mennie had had foiled Richard Levi's intention to make room for himself. A slower ball forced the batsman to reach outside off, so far that his bottom hand slid off the bat. The loft should have been mistimed. It flew up and both men tracked it's progress, all the way over the extra cover boundary. Levi continued on his way to 42 off 28 balls before another slower ball arrived from Ben Laughlin. This time it was hammered with both hands, but today was opposite day for Levi as well and he holed out at deep midwicket.
Laughlin and Peterson's opposite days
Hobart Hurricanes had caught on that slower balls were the way forward and had robbed Cobras of their early momentum. They were 143 for 6 in the 18th over when Robin Peterson spurned his definition as a left-handed batsman. Laughlin had seen the switch early and slid a slower ball down the leg side of the temporarily right-handed Peterson. For a second time on the day, the bowler's deception ended up in the batsman's favour as Peterson nailed the sweep to the boundary behind him. It seemed opposite day had caught on to Laughlin and Peterson as well.
Amla's opposite day
Hashim Amla was the biggest name in the Cobras batting line-up. However, his contribution of 8 was less than the extras. Ben Hilfenhaus induced an ambitions drive down the ground, the kind a power hitter would resort to when under pressure, not a batsman who can look effortlessly stylish in Test cricket. Amla's mistake allowed the ball to clang into his stumps. His day wasn't quite over though. Amla, who has never bowled in T20 cricket, was put in charge of wrapping up the seventh over when frontline spinner Dane Piedt had to go off the field after injuring his right arm. The first one ended up a wide, the second one was a full toss drilled to cover.
