Plays of the day

Sitting ducks and sticking to basics

Dileep Premachandran

September 12, 2007

Shane Bond was not at his express best, but was quick enough to beat Maurice Ouma © AFP

Pace and bounce: The rot set in as early as the second ball, with extra bounce off the pitch flummoxing Maurice Ouma. Shane Bond isn't as quick as he once was, but he's still more than a handful for batsmen not quite equipped for life at this level.

Who said wides are wasted?: Collins Obuya had braved a brave hand until Daniel Vettori outfoxed him with a delivery that was just pushed down the leg side. Obuya found himself drawn to it like a child to an unguarded flame, but once he missed it, there was only going to be one outcome.

Sticking to basics: When bowling to tailenders, the gospel says 'Fast and straight'. Mark Gillespie was precisely that, knocking over the last two batsmen with low full tosses that made a mess of the stumps.

Small consolation: David Obuya's catch to send back Lou Vincent was a gem, a dive and a smart take at mid-off. It meant little in the larger scheme of things though.

As plumb as can be: Peter Fulton may have struck two sixes to win the game, but he shouldn't even have been there by then, palpably plumb to Peter Ongondo. The umpire had other ideas. Perhaps no one fancied another break in a match that was the very definition of one-way traffic.

Dileep Premachandran is associate editor of Cricinfo

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