ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the second Twenty20 international between Australia and India, in Melbourne
Sidharth Monga at the MCG 03-Feb-2012Poignant moment of the day
Shaun Marsh’s miserable summer continued, but he nearly got a reprieve. In the third over, when he was yet to score, Marsh, typically on the walk, edged an outswinger from Praveen Kumar, but Virender Sehwag did not hold on to the catch at first slip. Sehwag had two grabs at the ball, the second lobbing it high enough for MS Dhoni to clean up behind him. Sehwag looked up and smiled. Dhoni walked a bit, looked back and smiled. If you have been reading reports of a rift between the two, this was a nice little moment.Unexpected tactic of the day
A captain notorious for spreading fields too early in Tests was surprisingly aggressive today. India had taken two early wickets, and David Hussey was struggling, but Aaron Finch had run away at the other end. It was the sixth over of the innings, this wasn’t a seaming pitch, but MS Dhoni had three slips in place for R Vinay Kumar. Vinay conceded just two runs off the four balls he bowled with three slips in. More than a month ago, India let a Test slip away because they were not attacking enough.Cheeky attempt of the day
India brought it to the field tonight, completing four run-outs and generally displaying athleticism on the park. One attempt at a run-out, though, did not get the approval of the crowd. In the 11th over R Ashwin pulled out of a delivery to see if David Hussey at the non-striker’s end was backing up too far. When he went back to take the bails off he saw Hussey’s bat well in. The crowd did not think what Ashwin was trying was sporting.Surprise swing of the day
The biggest outswinger bowled all night came from the hand of an offspinner, Ashwin. He had been trying round-arm deliveries but one – the first of the 17th over – swung away so much the cameramen were caught unprepared and were a little late to adjust the cameras. Ashwin could not land the ball, and was smashed for four through cover.Inadvertent ploy of the day
Australia have worked out a near-foolproof plan to dismiss Virender Sehwag: do not pitch the ball. For the third time in four innings, Sehwag fell to a full toss. This time, he came too close to a flighted delivery from Brad Hogg and failed to clear extra-cover with his drive.Intruder of the day
You could not call him a streaker. He was fully clothed. Presumably he quite liked that Sehwag had been caught off yet another full toss, and jumped over the midwicket fence to joyfully run towards the centre of the field. By the time he reached the 30-yard ring, though, he stumbled and fell over. Security was hot on his tail but he found enough time to get up and raise his arms à la Andrew Flintoff after a reverse-swinging yorker. The joy was short-lived. He went back handcuffed, and will have to cough up a hefty fine. One can only hope, for his sake, that if this was done to win a bet or a dare the other party keeps its word.
