IPL 2019: Rating the four debutants on Day 2
After Chennai Super Kings defeated RCB in the first encounter of the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League, eyes were set on the double-header where four teams were playing their first game of the season.
The afternoon game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad saw two debutants taking the field. New Zealand speedster Lockie Ferguson made his first appearance for KKR while English wicket-keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow represented SRH.
After intense bidding at the auctions, Ferguson was bagged by KKR for Rs 1.6 crore while SRH acquired the services of Bairstow by spending Rs 2.2 crore.
KKR won the toss and opted to bowl which meant that Bairstow would be out in the middle with the bat along with his partner David Warner. Owing to Warner’s spectacular innings, Bairstow didn’t have to take many risks in his first game and perfectly executed the role of a supporting batsman. The SRH duo went on to post 118 in 12.4 overs before Bairstow was clean bowled.
Bairstow, who was dismissed by Piyush Chawla, scored 39 runs from 35 balls. His innings was slow in terms of his standards but given the situation his team was in, one can say that he played according to the need of the hour.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Lockie Ferguson was introduced in the attack in the fifth over and immediately he created a chance to dismiss David Warner but the catch didn’t carry to Robin Uthappa. He could have taken his first IPL wicket but skipper Dinesh Karthik dropped a regulation catch of Warner.
Ferguson gave away 34 runs in his quota of four overs and remained wicketless. He was impressive with his slow bouncers and yorkers at the death. Despite his efforts, he was expensive and would want to better his figures in the upcoming fixtures.
Overall Rating: 6/10
The second match which was played between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals also saw two debutants in the form of Keemo Paul and Rasikh Salam.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and Mumbai Indians chose to bowl first. To everyone’s surprise, 17-year-old Rasikh Salam was given the first over in his debut game.
Overwhelmed by the situation, the youngster ended up bowling a no-ball on his first delivery. Despite over-stepping on couple of occasions, Salam impressed with his line and length. One of his deliveries that squared Shikhar Dhawan turned a few heads.
In his quota of overs, he gave away 42 runs and failed to pick any wickets. Given that Wankhede is a paradise for batsmen and all of the Mumbai bowlers gave more than 10 runs per over, Salam had an average outing.
Overall Rating: 5/10
Keemo Paul couldn’t express much with the bat and scored only three runs from five balls. However, he made a mark with his bowling. In his three overs, he gave away 21 runs and picked up the key wicket of Kieron Pollard.
His change of pace deceived the Mumbai batsmen and halted the run chase. Delhi seems to have filled the void with Paul’s inclusion in the team. Out of the four debutants on display, Paul had the most decent outing.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
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