Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq revealed they had a plan against Kolkata Knight Rider’s opener Sunil Narine but nothing worked after their 98-run loss at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Sunday.
Narine scored a blistering knock of 81 runs off 39 balls with the help of six fours and seven sixes to help KKR post an above-par score of 235 runs on the board after KL Rahul decided to bowl first.
The pugnacious southpaw completed his fifty off just 27 balls as he batted at the top of his game. The West Indies all-rounder then smashed 31 runs off the next 12 balls.
Naveen-ul-Haq, who dismissed Phil Salt with a slower ball, said they wanted to vary their pace and use bouncers and yorkers but the strategy didn’t work out.
“We planned against Narine. We wanted to mix it up with bouncers and yorkers but nothing worked against him. It was quite a brilliant innings, to be honest. He was properly middling it. He has been doing it from the start of the season,” Naveen said at the post-match press conference.
The Afghanistan seamer feels this was the best wicket to bat on as there was no grass. However, LSG batters could not capitalize as they were skittled out for a paltry score of 137 runs as none of the batsmen could go past the 40-run mark.
“The amount of games that we have played in Lucknow, I think this was the best wicket to bat on. We did not do the things in the chase that we did – say in the game at Chepauk, where the target was very high. It was not like bad or anything, there was nothing for the bowlers,” Naveen said.
“Pressure is always there on whatever score you are chasing. Every team has a bad day, and we cannot keep focusing on that, we have to move on,” the speedster concluded.
Lucknow Super Giants will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Wednesday.
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