New Zealand’s left-arm pacer Trent Boult was once again menacing with the new ball. After getting rid of Quinton de Kock on the fifth ball of the innings, Boult bowled the perfect setup to get the better of Devdutt Padikkal. The Kiwi pacer bowled a bouncer to catch Padikkal by surprise and then pitched it up to rattle the stumps.
The incident happened on the first ball of the third over. Boult bowled a bouncer to Padikkal. He was in no position to play a pull shot and the ball hit his helmet to send the neck guard flying. Boult checked on Padikkal and fist-bumped him after seeing he was not injured. On the next ball, Padikkal expected another short ball but Boult bowled a fuller delivery on the stumps. The left-handed batter was neither forward, nor back as he got clean bowled. He departed for a three-ball duck.
The experienced Kiwi pacer has been more lethal than any other bowler in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since the 2020 edition. He has taken 23 wickets in the first over of an innings. The next bowler on the list has eight wickets in the first over during this period.
Burger strikes too
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) suffered a mini-collapse in the powerplay overs. On-debut South African pacer Nandre Burger bowled a 147.2 kmph delivery. Ayush Badoni went for a drive but couldn't time it well. He handed an easy catch to Jos Buttler at mid-off.
Boult gives similar treatment to Rahul
Boult continued to bowl firebolts with the new ball. On the third delivery of the fifth over, he came round the wicket to LSG captain KL Rahul and hit him on the helmet. However, Rahul had a different response than Padikkal and hit Boult for a boundary over covers.
Despite conceding two boundaries in his third over, the 34-year-old was exceptional with the new ball. He conceded 15 runs from three overs and picked up two wickets.
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