The goof up
It's the opening match of the Champions League. The stadium was filling in, Danny Morrison was cheered at the toss, Kusal Perera was hammering boundaries and catches were being dropped. There was excitement all around, but something seemed amiss near the bowlers' run-up at each end. The event sponsor had changed from Karbonn to Oppo this year, but the advertisements on the ground near the run-ups said "Oddo", unless you were reading it from behind the keeper, which was normally the television angle in the 1970s.
The batsman's slip
Opener Danushka Gunathilaka had a scratchy start. He was 7 off 12, while Kusal chugged along at 33 off 18. On the third ball of the sixth over, Gunathilaka tried to slog Scott Styris on the leg side but only managed to send the bat flying while the ball had gone through to the keeper's gloves. Gunathilaka looked at his hands in utter disbelief after the slip as if he had been middling every ball.
The eventful over
Ish Sodhi was introduced in the fifth over after Southern Express had amassed 41 runs. The third ball of the over, a googly, was edged by Gunathilaka when he tried to hit it down the ground. But BJ Watling, behind the stumps, could not hold on. The very next ball Gunathilaka smashed a fuller delivery back to the bowler and Sodhi could do no better. New Zealand teams are normally noted for their fielding but Northern Knights pulled the standards down a notch with those two drops taking the tally to four in the first five overs.
The one that was taken
The Express openers enjoyed considerable luck. There were five drops by the sixth over and the other swats and slogs flew over the fielders' heads. The two men on the leg side were well inside the boundary, but when an opportunity presented they could not gauge the trajectory properly and almost held their ground, waiting for the ball to come to them. Trent Boult had one lob him at deep square leg but he did not have too long to fret as he made amends the very next ball when Kusal clubbed to the leg-side boundary. Boult ran around and got both hands to it to end the opening stand.