IPL 2018| We bowl slow and wide, the areas which are uncomfortable for Dhoni: Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel, who stole the show in Delhi's IPL clash against Chennai Super Kings yesterday, has admitted that bowling slow and wide was the key to make MS Dhoni uncomfortable. The Delhi Daredevils bowler also stated that the way he and Vijay Shankar batted in the last 3 overs was really special.
Harshal Patel has largely stayed out of the limelight throughout his IPL career. Playing previously for Royal Challengers Bangalore, he could only play in 36 games over a five-year-long stint. Hence, when DD picked him in the 2018 mega-auctions, fresh challenges were waiting for the all-rounder.
Before his heroics against CSK yesterday, he had scored just 24 runs and picked up three wickets this season. However, the player proved his worth during the match with an exceptional 16-ball 36 and bowled a magnificent spell of 1/23 to take Delhi Daredevils to a convincing 34-run win at Feroz Shah Kotla. Dew has been a major factor during the night matches in IPL making it difficult to defend targets due to the skiddy nature of the ball. However, Harshal observed that despite the dew factor coming into play during the second innings, the wicket didn't get better to bat on.
“Even in the second innings when the dew came on, the wicket didn't get a lot better, which it did in the last two games. So it was not coming onto the bat. We decided that in the last two games, we had bowled too full. So we decided we don't want to repeat that mistake, but stick to what we do best and hope for the best,” acknowledged the Haryana Ranji player at the post-match press conference as reported by Cricbuzz.
"I think defending on this ground is always difficult. But at the same time, if you have your plans and if you can stick to it, more often than not, you're going to succeed. 160 was not a winning total, but we knew that if we show good energy, stick to our plans and field well, we have a good chance of winning," he noted.
MS Dhoni too, who has been in impressive form this IPL scoring 430 runs at a strike rate of over 150, found it difficult to take on bowlers as he could manage a paltry 23 balls 17. Talking about Dhoni’s innings, Patel clarified that they had plans against the CSK captain on the back of their mind, which they executed properly - bowl slow and wide.
"I mean we all knew what he can do and we knew what his strong zones were. So the plan was not to get hit in his strong zone. We wanted him to hit in areas where he is not really comfortable. So we came up with a plan [and that was] to bowl slow and wide and executed it really well," he observed.
The 27-year-old showed experience with his bat by smashing Dwayne Bravo for three sixes in the final over, collecting 26 runs that eventually proved to be vital in the context of the match. Harshal later revealed that it was during the strategic time-out that he and Vijay Shankar had decided to take on bowlers.
"Basically we had a strategic timeout in the 16th over and we decided if we can get 140, it can be a fighting total. And we can still get them out early and win a game. But the way Vijay and I batted in the last three overs was really special," Patel added.
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