IPL 2019 | Chris Gayle's wicket was very important, says Sandeep Lamichhane

04/21/2019

Sandeep Lamichhane has stated that the wicket of Chris Gayle was the most important one after Saturday’s encounter between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab. DC had to chase down a target of 164 and they eventually won that match by five wickets with just two deliveries remaining.

In Saturday’s encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Kings XI Punjab were put to bat first by Delhi Capitals and things started off well for the hosts as KL Rahul was dismissed by Sandeep Lamichhane in only the second over of the innings, followed by Mayank Agarwal and David Miller’s wickets in the fifth and the eight overs respectively. However, this did not stop the big-hitting Chris Gayle as he blasted five sixes and six fours on his way to 69 off just 47 balls.

Nevertheless, Nepal leg-spinner Lamichhane bowled fearlessly to dismiss both Gayle and Sam Curran in the 13th over despite being hit for 16 runs in his previous over. The 18-year-old remarked that the wickets of the duo were the most crucial ones.

“We needed it (wickets) because Gayle was in good form and scoring quickly. He was smashing the bowlers no matter where we bowled. To get the wickets of Gayle and Curran in the 13th over was very important,” he said, at the post-match press conference, reported CricketNext.

The pitch had become easier to bat in the second half of KXIP’s innings and things became even worse for the bowlers as the dew settled in. Barring Axar Patel, who returned with figures of 3/22 in his three overs, the other two spinners, Lamichhane and Amit Mishra gave away runs in excess of ten per over. The young leggie did not fail to justify his stand by pointing out towards the dew factor.

“The dew factor made it difficult for the bowlers as it was tough to grip the ball and because of that none of the spinners other than Axar did well,” reckoned Lamichhane.

The Shreyas Iyer-led team will next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in an away game on April 24.