"The plan is to always bowl dots" - Avesh Khan on his hattrick ball to Romario Shephard
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Avesh Khan starred with the ball for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as they trumped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 12 runs at the DY Patil Sports Complex.
With SRH defending 169 runs, Avesh Khan produced early breakthroughs, dismissing Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma. Khan came back to the attack again in the 18th over, picking up the prized wicket of Nicholas Pooran.
@IPL @Avesh_6 This is now Avesh Khan's best IPL figures already and first time he's picked up 4 wickets in an IPL Inns. Great and potentially match changing performance at the top and at the end overs too.
The young pacer from Madhya Pradesh backed that up with Abdul Samada's wicket on the very next ball. He was up for a hat-trick with Romario Shephard on strike.
Throwing light on what went through his mind before the hat-trick ball, Khan said at the post-match presentation ceremony:
"The plan is to always bowl dots and try to hit the yorker length."
The 25-year-old pacer did hit the yorker length, but Shephard negotiated the delivery well to deny Khan a hat-trick. He eventually returned figures of 4-24 in his four overs.
Khan, who finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2021, had mixed outings in the first two games. However, he found his rhythm against Hyderabad and dismantled their batting with two wickets at the top and as many at the end.
Speaking on the LSG team environment, Khan said:
"It's been a great environment - Gautam bhai, Andy Flower and KL bhai have been very supportive. They've been encouraging me to keep bowling as per my rhythm since it has been good."
The youngster will hope continue his confident displays and the momentum in the coming games.
To see list of IPL winner, click here.
"I wanted to bowl the slower ball" - Avesh Khan on dismissing Kane Williamson
Avesh Khan's spell shows why he is one of India's most valuable pace bowling assets right now. It was evident even last season, yet Delhi Capitals let him slip away from their hands. #SRHvLSG
The tall and lanky fast bowler got the better of SRH captain Kane Williamson in the fourth over just as the New Zealander threatened to take the game away from LSG in the first six overs.
Williamson tried to take the attack to the bowler, hitting a boundary on the very first delicery, but Avesh Khan came back well to draw first blood. The India international said that he tried to bowl a slower delivery, considering the ball was gripping on the wicket.
He concluded:
"I just try to give my team wickets in the Powerplay as well as the slog overs. I had decided to bowl the slower one. In the first innings we saw that there was some grip in the wicket. I wanted to mix up the pace since it was holding in the surface."
Avesh Khan now has seven wickets in his kitty and will be keen to add more by the time the tournament ends.