Top-order agony as SRH hit unwanted 6

Frontline batters have an evening to forget against Mumbai Indians as team slumps to sixth defeat of the season

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @ Chennai

BETWEEN 7.30 PM and 9.00 PM, one of the strangest 20 overs in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) unfurled. A batter walked, stopped and walked again after assuming the bowling team was going to appeal. He was convinced he had nicked down the leg side. Curiously enough, the bowling side never really appealed. The umpire wasn't too sure whether to give the batter out but he did raise the finger. The sequence of events had an apt ending when UltraEdge held that Ishan Kishan's bat did not connect with the ball.

Sandwiching that moment was Sunrisers Hyderabad's latest effort at trying to drive a car after throwing the keys out, removing the steering wheel and filling a petrol tank with water. In the end, they got to 143. That, though, doesn't even begin to tell the story of the innings that briefly threatened Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 49.