Anrich Nortje, Delhi Capitals fast bowler, came back brilliantly after a few disappointing outings to spearhead his sides’ bowling-unit in the crucial encounter against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Monday night.
Nortje finished with figures of 3-33 in four overs and it was his double-strike in the 16th over that eventually proved to be the difference in the end. The South African bolter removed the half-centurion Devdutt Padikkal before claiming Chris Morris in his second spell to break the momentum, ensuring that despite some late blows by AB de Villiers and Shivam Dube, RCB only managed 7-152, a target which was gunned down with ease by the Capitals.
Anrich Nortje was eventually awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ where he stressed on doing the basics right for his success. The fast bowler also revealed that the bowling attack’s plan was to force the RCB batsmen to hit on the longer side of the square besides adding that they deliberately used the hard-length ploy to target the batsmen.
”I said it time and time again, it’s just about doing the basics right and wasn’t about something special from one guy. Coming into this game, small things started feeling better and I think those small things, once you get that right, you get your rhythm. We were thinking to make them hit to the bigger boundary and stick to our plans against each batsmen,” Anrich Nortje said in the post-match interview.
”There was little bit dew at the end of our innings and we tried not to be predictable. Yorker would have been the obvious option and we wanted to change it and see how it goes and wanted to hit the hard length. Having a bit of extra pace always helps. All ready for the playoffs,” he added.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals have qualified for the playoffs, where they will lock horns with defending champions, Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 01.