IPL 2021: Important Not To Bowl Full And Let The Pitch Do The Rest - Moises Henriques On Sharjah Wicket
Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder Moises Henriques suggested that the pitch in Sharjah is quite conducive to slow balls and the batsmen need to make sure the bad balls are put away if they are to chase Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) target of 165.
Henriques did the star turn for Punjab with the ball after their opponents got off to a brisk start. He took the wickets on Virat Kohli and promoted Dan Christian off consecutive balls before knocking over Devdutt Padikkal in his second over.
He finished with stunning figures of 3/12 in four overs, which is his best-ever figure in the IPL. Speaking during the mid-innings break, Henriques reckoned he wanted to let the pitch do much of the work in Sharjah.
“It seemed to play quite similar to the last couple of pitches here. I tried to bang it into the pitch and hit the top of off. For me, it was important not to bowl too full and try and let the pitch do the rest,” he said.
“I think we have to take full advantage of any bad balls they bowl” – Moises Henriques
The Australian all-rounder’s medium pace deliveries were quite tough to put away. The Sharjah track is also tough for a new batsman to get going on, and wickets will be the key in the run chase. Moises Henriques hasn’t bowled much all year, but he was very effective with his bowling on Sunday.
“This isn’t the biggest field, and we should take advantage of any bad balls they bowl. It is going to be difficult if they are accurate and tight with their lines and lengths,” he added.
For RCB, Glenn Maxwell was the best of the lot as he struck another half-century to take RCB past the 160-run mark. Before the start of play, Matthew Hayden suggested that the par total on this wicket is around 130, so RCB will back themselves to defend the total.
