Delhi Capitals’ fast bowler Anrich Nortje revealed his team’s bowling game plan after their win over Chennai Super Kings on Friday, 25 September.
“We said, just assess the conditions [as] we’re not too sure what to expect in every game. With the dew, it’s not easy to come in and just strike. So in general it’s not just to Dhoni, I think [bowling short] was a good plan by the bowlers and they executed their plan well to whoever was batting.”
The South African also said that there was some dew so the ball was skidding in the second half of the game. Bowling at 140 km/hr and above, it was difficult for the new batsmen to start hitting from the middle.
Nortje also lauded spin all-rounder Axar Patel’s consistency and plan of him bowling to Shane Watson with the ball going away from the veteran Australian. “It’s nice to be able to use him in the powerplay, he’s so accurate and is clear with his plans and that maybe something Watson struggles against,” he said.
The 26-year old also shed light on the team’s discussion after the top-order collapse against Kings XI Punjab in their first game. “We just said that we might need to assess the conditions better and boys did that pretty well. They played very well at the front and we built partnerships which we wanted,” he said.
Delhi Capitals were 23-3 in their first game but on Friday against CSK, they lost their first wicket in the 11th over at the score of 94.
On the opening batsmen’s cautious play in the powerplay, Nortje said it was a bit of both. CSK bowlers bowled tight lines and also their batters didn’t want to lose early wickets so that they could set a platform for the incoming big-hitters to launch at the back-end. “Once they got the feel of the conditions, it just took a couple of overs for them to play their shots,” he signed off.
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