Two in two, part two
Bowling his first over in last year's Champions League, Joel Paris had dismissed Hamish Rutherford and Brendon McCullum off successive deliveries, getting both Otago Volts batsmen lbw. Then, he had come on as first change for Perth Scorchers.
Today, in Scorchers' first game of the season, Paris took the new ball, and the left-arm angle and seam worked their magic again. Fourth ball of the over, he swung one into Morne van Wyk to beat his across-the-line slog and hit timber. Predictable result for such a low-percentage shot, but his captain's fate didn't dissuade Cody Chetty from trying the same shot next ball. Again, it swung through the gate and crashed into the stumps.
Fielder yorks bowler
Having already reached his half-century, Khaya Zondo was desperate to get on strike in the last over of the Dolphins innings, and took off from the non-striker's end even though Robbie Frylinck had drilled the ball straight to Adam Voges at short extra cover. He was halfway down the pitch, and all Voges had to do was lob the ball to the bowler, Yasir Arafat, who had positioned himself behind the stumps. Voges threw flat and low, and the ball bounced right next to Arafat's foot and shot past him before he could bend down to collect it. Granted this reprieve, Zondo crossed himself as he completed the single.
A bow for nothing
Craig Simmons was barely middling anything, but his leg-side slogs were going to the boundary often enough to keep Scorchers' chase ticking along at close to the required rate. In the tenth over, Simmons swung Cameron Delport away towards deep midwicket. Vaughn van Jaarsveld, fielding in the deep, leaped up at the edge of the boundary in an attempt to catch the ball. He caught it with his right hand, but realised his foot was going to land beyond the rope and flicked the ball back into play. Having shown off his athleticism, van Jaarsveld took a bow towards the crowd, only for replays to show that his foot had touched the ground before he had let go of the ball. Six more to Simmons.
The screamer
Three balls after that effort on the boundary, Simmons looked to slog Delport over the leg side once more. This time, he only managed a top-edge, and the ball looped high in the air before dropping down between long-on and the bowler. The boundary fielder had an easier angle towards the ball, but Delport, haring furiously towards the 30-yard circle, was closer to the ball. Calling for it as it dropped down from over his shoulder, Delport dived full-length and was flat on his stomach when he took the catch inches off the ground.
For a description of Mitchell Marsh's match-winning sixes, read the report, here