The Indian Premier League’s highest numbers for an Englishman were recorded by fast bowler Mark Wood on Saturday, helping Lucknow Super Giants defeat Delhi Capitals despite his lack of prior experience in the league.
In just his second IPL game, Wood recorded 5-14 and was named Player of the Match as Lucknow won by a score of 50 runs in their season opener.
Following Kyle Mayers’ IPL debut 73, Lucknow gave Delhi a goal of 194 to meet. The visitors failed in their pursuit despite David Warner, the captain of Delhi, scoring a half-century.
Wood, who had one game with the Chennai Super Kings in 2018, said he was excited to contribute when he returned to the Twenty20 competition.
“I played for CSK the last time I was here, and things didn’t work out that well. I’m happy that everything went well since I wanted to attempt to have an influence this time, Wood stated during the post-match presentation.
“I’m simply happy that I was able to establish a rhythm and grab some wickets… I was helped by the planning I did with Morne Morkel, my bowling coach. Just try to act similarly to how I act for England; he has been incredibly wonderful to me.
“The pitch was so wet that I was attempting to keep my strides short. I feel comfortable charging in and letting it fly.
Wood received a lot of accolades from Captain KL Rahul.
“When someone performs well and consistently, it has a significant impact on the team and the outcome of the game. Woody made it count because it was his day, but overall the team applied pressure on the batters, according to Rahul.
The prospective Ashes opponent Wood also impressed Australian Warner, whose new IPL captaincy began with a loss.
He is a superb bowler, and tonight he shown both his talent and wisdom, according to Warner.
In our case, starting over is the best course of action. One game, that’s all. We return to Delhi in front of our supporters at home,” he continued.
