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'KL (Rahul) tried to keep things simple for me and the planning with Morne helped me. He has been really good with me; just try to do similar with what I do for England.'
England pace spearhead Mark Wood credited bowling coach Morne Morkel for keeping things simple at training after returning sensational figures of 5 for 14 on his IPL debut for Lucknow Super Giants in their massive 50-run victory over Delhi Capitals, in Lucknow, on Saturday.
After Kyle Mayers’s 38-ball 73 guided them to a massive 193 for 6, Lucknow Super Giants restricted Delhi Capitals to 143 for 9, Wood decimating the Delhi Capitals top-order in his first two overs with some high quality pace bowling.
"KL (Rahul) tried to keep things simple for me and the planning with Morne helped me. He has been really good with me; just try to do similar with what I do for England," Wood said, after being named player-of-the-match.
Wood failed to impress for Chennai Super Kings a couple of seasons back and struggled with a hip injury, which didn't allow him to play for LSG last season.
"Last time I was here I played for CSK and it didn't go quite well, so I wanted to try to make an impact this time and I'm delighted that it's gone well today.
“I felt good for a little period of time actually. You could see the dew on the grass and it affected me. I fall even at the best of times. I'm just pleased today that I managed to get some rhythm in and take some wickets.”
Wood further said he kept his strides short because of the wet outfield and dew.
Skipper Rahul was also all-praise for Wood.
"It was Woody's day today. It's always a dream for a fast bowler. When someone is going well and has those kinds of performances, it has a huge impact on the team and on the result of the game."
It was a grand homecoming for LSG as they played their first home match since the team was inducted in the IPL last season.
"We were clueless about the pitch. It was a nice way to start and will take a lot of confidence from this. I felt that we were 25-30 runs above par with the way that Kyle batted and the intent of the other batters getting on with the game and taking on the spinners."