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“It’s hard to pinpoint one crucial performance today”: Trent Boult

By Mumbai Indians

Team MI scripted a 13-run victory against SRH earlier today in a fashion that looked all too familiar - a small total to defend, a great start by the chasing team, and an exceptional bowling performance to clinch a win.

Orchestrating this comeback was mainly two bowlers, Rahul Chahar and Trent Boult, who shared six wickets equally between them. They did not allow SRH to chase down the 150-run target, by ensuring they were all out by the 20th over.

The media caught up with Boult for a post-match press conference. Here are some excerpts from the same:

Which was the most crucial performance of today’s game? 

Boult: “ I think it’s hard to pinpoint one performance here. But I think a lot of credit due to Rahul’s side for hanging in there. Probably a couple of runs shorter but past what we needed. So perhaps if we get a couple of wickets we can really get back in the chase. So I think the couple of direct hits from Hardik, the three wickets from Rahul, equally Bumrah there bowling three-four for 14 runs was pretty amazing.”

How enjoyable is it bowling alongside Jasprit?

Boult: “Yeah obviously, it’s great to see a guy like that operate, how clear he is with what he’s doing with the ball throughout his whole spell, but at the death, I personally believe he is one of the best death bowlers in the world. So, he makes my job a lot easier. It’s always nice being on the right side of situations and hopefully, we can get a bit of momentum in this tournament.”

Why do you think fast bowlers have been successful in IPL? Did you expect such wickets in India, where spin mostly dominates?

Boult: “I don’t know if you’re correct but yes Rahul has got the most wickets here in our side. But, the contrast between Wankhede and Chepauk is quite considerable. There I can swing it around nicely and it’s a pretty good surface there in Mumbai. And here, as a pace bowler, I think you have to be extremely accurate and try to always be a step ahead of the batsman. Speaking of the last couple of performances, I think he has really been, his ability to just stay in there and bowl a couple of dots and keep pushing the run-rate up. He is getting us out of those pressure situations in the death overs.”

How easy or difficult is it to play a stack of games at a single venue?

Boult: “I think it’s very unique. Very rarely do you get a chance to settle into one venue. But, the key would be to obviously have to read the conditions as quickly as possible and make the most of it. So, it’s a very unique situation, we’ve got five games here, four in Delhi and then we move around a little bit. But, I think, especially in the first half of the tournament, it’s obviously good to be on the right side of a couple of results. It was nice to get those couple of Ws (wins) over the last two matches.”

We hope to see you add more Ws to our tally, Boulty, both wickets and wins!