Fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq was breathing fire on Wedneday night at Chepauk, where Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) squared off against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the eliminator. The Afghan speedsters returned figures of 4 for 38 in four overs, helping LSG restrict Mumbai to 182 for 8 in 20 overs. Naveen registered the third-best bowling figures for Lucknow against MI, after the last-year’s heroics of Mohsin Khan (4/16) and Avesh Khan (4/24).
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Naveen was constantly booed by the Chepauk crowd but he did well enough to dismiss MI skipper Rohit Sharma, batting mainstay Suryakumar Yadav, all-rounder Cameron Green, and the ever-dangerous Tilak Verma.
Speaking with the broadcasters after a phenomenal spell, Naveen said the team expected him to provide a breakthrough after Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green forged a 66-run partnership. The Afghan speedster got rid of both in-form batters and jolted the MI middle-order.
“I think they (Green and Surya) had a good partnership, and we needed a breakthrough at that point. So, I came in as the leader of this young attack and was supposed to get the breakthrough. And that’s what I did.They (LSG) were expecting those two wickets from me, and I delivered at the right time,” Naveen told the broadcasters.
Naveen getting Surya and Green in one over could well prove to be decisive as MI were at least 15 short of par-score. MI also needed to replace Surya with Impact Player Nehal Wadhera, whose 23 off 12 balls took them past 180-run mark. Green, who hammered a ton in the final league match against SRH, slammed six boundaries and 1 six while Yadav hit two maximums and an equal number of fours in his 20-ball knock.
The fast bowler further said the wicket they are playing on is better than the one used in qualifier 1, between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.
“I think it’s a good enough total, we were expecting it to grip and spin, but it was coming on to the bat nicely. You can play on the up (on this pitch), it’s a better wicket than the CSK – GT game,” Naveen said.
(With PTI Inputs)
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