Bowlers have stuck to very simple plans and it has come off: Lockie Ferguson

Rising Pune Supergiant strengthened their hold on the 4th spot in the points table courtesy their 61-run win against the struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore at Pune. Defending a par score of 158, RPS kept striking at regular intervals to contain RCB to a lowly 96/9.

Kiwi fast bowler Lockie Ferguson had a memorable outing against RCB. Playing just his second game in the IPL, Ferguson bowled tight lines to finish the game with figures of 2/7 off four overs. He picked up the prized scalp of AB de Villiers followed by Stuart Binny to derail the visiting team’s chase. He was consistent in his lines and was very miser in giving away runs. The 25-year-old was later rewarded with the Man of the Match award.

RCB’s poor campaign continued and they are all but out of the reckoning. The presence of the likes of Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers couldn’t get them wins when they needed them the most. Ferguson was all smiles after helping his team to a win and spoke about keeping things simple in the post-match press conference.

“Bowlers have stuck to very simple plans and trying to nail those and have the right field. Fortunately it has come off in games. Proud of how the bowling has gone about the business. We don’t necessarily have world beaters, we’ve got the likes of Imran Tahir who is a world beater and amazing himself,” he said in the post-match press conference.

“The other guys in the group are all doing their part and tonight we came off with a win with everyone doing their job well,” he added.

Ferguson didn’t get off to the kind of start he would have liked in his IPL debut game a couple of weeks back. Playing against Gujarat Lions, he leaked 44 runs in his quota of four overs and picked just the odd wicket. Picked to play instead of Faf du Plessis, Ferguson came on to bowl the fourth over of the innings and sent de Villiers back on his fourth ball. He then picked Binny, who hit a short ball straight into the deep square leg fielder’s hands.

With 5 wins off 9 games, RPS have got their IPL campaign back on track after a slow start. They will now host Gujarat Lions on Monday night at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.