IPL 2024: Trent Boult’s bowling was world-class against MI, says Stuart Broad

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Former England pacer Stuart Broad praised Rajasthan Royals left-arm pacer Trent Boult who was one of the key highlights in his side’s win against Mumbai Indians, and labeled him as a ‘world-class bowler’.

In the match against Mumbai Indians, Boult used the conditions perfectly, moved the ball on both sides, and claimed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks as he reduced Mumbai Indians to 14/3 in the third over. The 34-year-old Boult claimed 3-15 in his three overs before ending his quota with 3-22.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports on Cricket Live, Stuart Broad complimented Boult and said, “We’ve come to expect Trent Boult to take a wicket in his first over, not necessarily two, and it was world-class bowling. The ones at Rohit Sharma, wobble seam delivery, moving across to take the outside edge, and then the in-swinger, pitching on middle stump, swinging back and hitting the middle and leg,” said Broad.

“Brevis probably wasn’t expecting to be in the first over, and in the third over he faced Trent Boult’s first ball, and all he could do was edge it to short third man. But it was fine bowling. The ball did swing, and carry through. It was exciting for me as a former fast bowler to watch this style of bowling, and I think, apart from maybe Brevis, the batters were outdone by world-class bowling rather than playing poor shots,” he added.

Broad also emphasized on the combined bowling effort of Rajasthan Royals as they restricted Mumbai Indians to 125/9 on their home ground later winning the match by six wickets with 27 balls left. After Boult’s three-fer Yuzvendra Chahal tormented MI’s batting, wiping out the middle-order in claiming 3-11 in four brilliant overs. South African Nandre Burger also claimed two wickets.

“That was just fantastic bowling. That was just a beautiful plan from Rajasthan Royals. I think you could tell with the celebration of the whole group that that was a setup. They thought that Rohit would be thinking that Boult was going to swing the ball back and you can see from the seam release that it’s wobbling. That means it’s a deliberate move across the right-handed batter with the slip in place and actually a fantastic catch as well,” said Broad.

Australia cricketer Steve Smith too heaped praise on RR for their win against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, “They were getting a really good length, top of the stumps, and just challenging the defence of the batters. There was enough movement in the air to create some kind of doubt. And it was one of those nights that it just seemed everything was going to hand. They’d nick it to the keeper, they’d nick it to short third man and it was one of those nights everything went the way of Rajasthan.”

“Yuzvendra Chahal came on and did what Yuzvendra Chahal does, three for 11 in four overs. He bowled like an absolute genius tonight and took the ball out of the batter’s arcs, got wickets at crucial times, and they just kept taking wickets throughout the innings. And no one in Mumbai could really get going. There was a little bit of resistance from Hardik and Tilak in the middle there, but they also got out as well. It just wasn’t the night for Mumbai,” he added.

Chasing 126 for victory, Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at 48/3 before Riyan Parag came to their rescue, adding 40 runs off 35 balls with Ravichandran Ashwin and then unleashing a flurry of shots towards the end to claim a comfortable victory. With Parag, who struck five fours and three sixes, remaining unbeaten on 54, Rajasthan Royals reached 127/4 in 15.3 overs to seal a comfortable victory with a lot to spare.

–IANS

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