Rising Pune Supergiant pacer Lockie Ferguson’s maiden Indian Premier League season has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride. Within a few weeks, the New Zealand bowler has experienced some cruelty that T20 cricket brings with it.
After a forgettable IPL debut against Gujarat Lions where he was thrashed for 44 runs in his four overs and went wicketless, Ferguson on Saturday emerged the top performer for Rising Pune Supergiant in their 61-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MCA Stadium.
(Read | Virat Kohli fifty in vain, Rising Pune Supergiant thrash Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Ferguson said his biggest takeaway from the first few weeks in IPL has been learning how to make the most of the pitches even when they don’t help seam bowling.
“This is my first time here. I have been only here for three weeks. It is a lot different from New Zealand. In India, as a bowler, I had to work a lot harder in change ups. In New Zealand, you get a lot of help from the pitch, seam movement or bounce. You had to bowl cross seam, use the crease a bit more and make things less easy for the batsmen. Hopefully, I can bowl like tonight a few more times,” said Ferguson after a Man-of-the-Match performance of 4-1-7-2. (IPL RESULTS)
“I don’t swing a huge amount but I do have the benefit of bowling faster. I look to strengthen my strengths and get better. In T20s, you can have days like my first game in Rajkot; it was quite frustrating with guys getting on top of me. I always look to take wickets and fortunately today I went for very little runs,” he added.
Ferguson praised the positive intent of his team’s bowling unit in restricting RCB to 96/9. “We initially thought we were 15-20 runs short, but it wasn’t a two-paced wicket. The way we came out with a very good intent, bowling back of the length, quite straight and making them force their shots brought us into the game and gave us early wickets. We just rolled on from there,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Ferguson praised the positive intent of his team’s bowling unit in restricting RCB to 96/9. “We initially thought we were 15-20 runs short, but it wasn’t a two-paced wicket. The way we came out with a very good intent, bowling back of the length, quite straight and making them force their shots brought us into the game and gave us early wickets. We just rolled on from there,” he said.
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Stay updated with the latest IPL Live Score and get exclusive insights with the IPL Match Today, IPL Points Table match highlights, and more. Explore a comprehensive Cricket Schedule, track the race for the Purple Cap and IPL Orange Cap in IPL 2024, check Virat Kohli performance and stay ahead with all the cricket-related updates on the Hindustan Times website and app.