West Indies Test hero Shamar Joseph endures tough start to IPL career

Lucknow Super Giants' pacer Shamar Joseph endured a tough start to his Indian Premier League career on Sunday. Handed a debut cap during the side's match against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata, Joseph's debut match didn't go as planned. Bowling his first over in the league – which was also the first in the innings – Joseph erred on four occasions, bowling two no balls and as many wides, and conceded 22 runs in total.

Interestingly, the first five deliveries of the over were legal. The opening ball of the match was a dot ball, as Shamar Joseph delivered a swinging delivery from a length around off stump to Philip Salt. The KKR opener attempted to defend but managed only to hit the ball off the splice to the left of backward point, resulting in no runs scored.

Joseph, then, bowled a back-of-a-length delivery at middle and leg stump, with Salt managing to take a single. Next up, Joseph delivered a short of length delivery outside off at 146kmph; Sunil Narine leaned back and fetched the ball from outside off, slapping it away through covers for a boundary.

In the fourth delivery, Joseph bowled a short ball aiming for a slog from Narine, who managed a thick top-edge that flew over short third man for a couple of runs. Narine, then, attempted a drive on the off-side but missed completely, leaving his stumps exposed. The ball evaded the bat and also the wicketkeeper, with KL Rahul diving to his right but unable to prevent the batters from taking a bye.

That is when the drama began.

Shamar Joseph bowled a front foot no ball, delivering a quick ball down the leg side to Philip Salt. The opener attempted a pull shot, resulting in a thick inside edge that went to the right of short fine leg. Yash Thakur made a diving attempt to catch it, but he couldn't hold on to the ball.

Joseph, then, bowled a wide, and followed it up with a five-wide; Salt attempted a slog but missed, and the ball ran away to the left of the diving wicketkeeper for five wides.

Joseph wandered off his line again, bowling wide down the leg side, but just as the umpire signalled for a wide, the no-ball alarm rang again. Salt, then, took the full use of the free hit as he smashed the final delivery from Joseph down the ground, clearing the long-off boundary for a six.

And thus ended one of the longest overs in IPL history, with 10 deliveries fetching 22 runs. Joseph finished with poor figures, too, conceding 47 runs in his four overs without a wicket, as Super Giants faced an 8-wicket defeat.

Kolkata Knight Riders remained second with an impressive win over the LSG on Sunday, firmly in pursuit for the top spot – currently held by Rajasthan Royals. Samson's men have played six matches, as opposed to KKR's five, and have 10 points on the table. The Knight Riders, meanwhile, are now on 8 points.