The greatest bowler for RCB, Mohammad Siraj, provided a little bit of “needling” for Phil Salt to play a match-winning inning for Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla while after a heated argument with Siraj, who was seen pointing fingers at the English opener after bowling a bouncer, Salt emerged as the undisputed winner.
The greatest bowler for RCB, Mohammad Siraj, provided a little bit of “needling” for Phil Salt to play a match-winning inning for Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Salt took Siraj to the cleaners in the fifth over of the run chase on Saturday night, Siraj, who has been lethal with the new ball this season, was on the receiving end.
After a heated argument with Siraj, who was seen pointing fingers at the English opener after bowling a bouncer, Salt emerged as the undisputed winner.
Salt hit a couple of sixes and a four in the 19-run over, and Siraj wasn’t given another spell. A great win for the hosts was set up by Salt’s incredible 87 off 45 in his first IPL season.
He said that the intensity of their away game against RCB at Chinnaswamy Stadium had a lot to do with his conversation with Siraj.
“I am very satisfied with the knock. Obviously, there was a little bit of needle. A lot of our pre-match talk was about really taking it to them, which I felt we did well. There were a few words and a bit of needle. It spurs on most blokes to be honest, certainly myself,”
said the destructive England keeper-batter.
Salt made the deliberate choice to attack Siraj as rattling the opposition’s top bowler sends a message of “calm” to the dressing room.
“If you take on a side’s best bowler and win that particular battle, the message it sends back to the dug-out is one of calm. When that happens, you see guys come out confidently. You saw Marsh hit his second ball for six and Rossouw come out to bat as if he has already faced 30 balls. So that is the method behind it.”
Twelve sixes and eight fours were part of Salt’s sensational effort, with the flat-six off Siraj over cover standing out. The 26-year-old represents the bold style of play that England has utilized in recent years when playing white-ball cricket.
His knock was the most precise ball-striking technique that one may observe in today’s game. Salt, who gained attention after his exploits in Pakistan last year, says that he almost always believes in his ability to achieve.
He knows there will be days when he will be out caught a first ball off a juicy half-volley as he did against Gujarat Titans, but he will take that.
“I know that if I go out there and put the pressure back on the bowlers and get us off to a good start, it makes it easier for the next batter in to have a good start. That means our batting unit is a lot more likely to win us a game of cricket. It’s pretty simple when you come down to it.
“Obviously you have to live with the highs and the lows. Hitting half-volleys to cover off the first ball, those are things you have to take on the chin sometimes. But with that style of play, when you do score runs, more often than not you have a much better chance of winning your team the game.
“With our all-out approach, you can ride your luck a little bit at times. But when it does come off, you win games for your team. That’s the battle….how often can I repeat this? How many games can I win for my side in the competition?”
he explained his mindset.
Delhi batters have under-performed this season but Salt is confident that they can turn it around in the remaining four games. Delhi has also won their last two matches to remain in the competition.
“With the batting group, throwing the first punch and throwing the pressure back onto the bowling side was a major talking point from the batting group. We have been very grateful for the work that the bowling unit has been doing. That talk has given us clarity, which means we can play with freedom.”
Salt likes his time in the IPL and said he was pretty clear about what he wanted to achieve in his first season.
“It is the first time a lot of people have been seeing me bat. That is an outside distraction. My goal ever since the auction was to come here and win games and challenge myself against the best in the world. Realistically, we know that this is the best T20 league in the world. That’s how I see it,”
he added.