Lucknow Super Giants leading pacer Mark Wood said that it was a great experience to bowl to legendary MS Dhoni in front of a huge crowd in Chepauk. The 33-year-old stated that the atmosphere was simply electrifying when the CSK skipper walked out to bat in the final over.
Mark Wood has impressed everyone with his sheer pace in his first two games for Lucknow Super Giants, Spoke about the final over when he was hit to two sixes by MS Dhoni before he dismissed the CSK skipper on the third ball.
“I and KL were talking. We were trying to stay calm and trying to work out how to get him out. In my mind, I was not trying to be defensive. I was thinking of ways to stop him from scoring runs and get him out. Unfortunately, it cost me 12 runs. But, that second shot in particular was amazing. For him to hit it that far was pretty incredible,” Mark Wood said.
The 41-year-old returning to his fortress after three long years struck two consecutive sixes on his first two balls, taking down one of the fastest bowlers in international cricket. Speaking about the atmosphere on the ground, when MS Dhoni walked out to bat, Mark Wood said that it was a surreal experience, stating that it was one of the loudest crowds that he played with so far.
“The noise when he came out to bat and then when he hit those two balls were the loudest I have played in front of. It was eye-opening but it was a great experience to look back on,” he added.
CSK posted the mammoth total of 217 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs, with the help of Ruturaj Gaikwad’s brilliant 57 runs in 31 balls and later with valuable contributions by Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu at the end of the innings.
It’s Great That I Got 8 Wickets So Far – Mark Wood
Speaking on his performance, Mark Wood said that he was happy with his contribution to the team and added that he would like to improve his bowling in the forthcoming games. Wood has picked up 8 wickets from the first two games including a 5-fer in the opening game against Delhi Capitals.
“I am happy. But went for a lot of runs in the first game. Somewhere in the middle would be perfect. A five-for in the first game very rarely happens in T20s. In the second game, I gave away a lot of runs, 49 odd runs. I want to improve on that. But it’s great that I got 8 wickets so far,” Mark Wood said.
Lucknow Super Giants will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for their third game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on April 7 in Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.