Veteran Lucknow Super Giants spinner Amit Mishra credited his success in the five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here to making careful assessment of the wicket and taking mental notes of the shots that batters are likely to employ against his bowling. The 40-year-old, who has been playing in the Indian Premier League since the inaugural edition in 2008, played a vital role in helping LSG defeat his former team, grabbing two wickets to restrict SRH to 121/8.
LSG then completed the task in 16 overs for the loss of five wickets.
Mishra, the only bowler to take three hattricks in IPL — Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals, 2008), Deccan Chargers (2011) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2013) — was once again at his best on a track offering turn on Friday.
He dismissed the dangerous Washington Sundar and England’s Adil Rashid as the rivals were restricted to a below-par score.
Asked about his success on Friday, Mishra said, “I didn’t do anything special, just tried to read the wicket better, analyzing the kind of shots batters will play against my bowling. And I met with some success.
“I am very happy with my performance and the fact that the team won and built confidence for the next match,” he said during the post match press conference.
Mishra said the plan was to employ Ravi Bishnoi early because he can be more than a handful for batters with his skiddy balls.
The 22-year-old leg-spinner came in to bowl in the seventh over and got success in the ninth over, dismissing Harry Brook.
“When the ball is new, it skids a lot and we brought in Bishnoi first because his ball skids, which gives little time to batters to react.
“I was brought in late (13h over) because I like to spin the ball and when the ball is a bit old, it spins more and I can use my googly and other variations better. That was the plan (against SRH),” added Mishra.
The stalwart added that his bonding with Bishnoi also played a vital role in the success of both spinners against SRH.
“Bishnoi is bowling really well and both of us are different kind of bowlers. The best part is the bonding between us, which is really great. He always takes my advices and is a keen learner. I try to guide him a lot.”
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