The IPL Play of the Day unquestionably goes to Hashim Amla, for the variation of shots that got him to 96 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

With scores of 1, 21 and 0 to kick off his underwhelming IPL career with Kings XI Punjab, Amla needed to produce something special, and he did exactly that, in a manner no South African cricket fan had seen before.

His 96 was one short of his previous best in this format, against England earlier in the year. But the way he went about his business on Sunday has never been seen before in the Amla textbook. Two of his 16 boundaries were ramp shots that even Jos Buttler and Tillakaratne Dilshan would be proud of, and another was a paddle shot that was struck well outside off but pierced it’s way through to the fine leg boundary. He looked so natural doing it, it’s difficult to believe that we scarcely see him produce this kind of innovation.