Lucknow, May 8 (IANS) Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara believes that fast bowler Prince Yadav is not very far from realising his World Cup dream after the youngster played a key role in Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) thrilling nine-run win over the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Prince delivered a match-winning spell under pressure as LSG defended 209/3 in the rain-curtailed 19-overs-a-side contest. The pacer finished with figures of 3-33, including the crucial wickets of Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Jitesh Sharma, helping LSG regain control after RCB threatened to chase down the target.

Pujara said Prince’s performances over the last two seasons show he has both the talent and temperament to aim for bigger honours with India.

“Not just this season; even last season, he impressed a lot. He bowls in all phases of the game, often in pressure situations. Even in this game, he gave away just two runs in an over and took a couple of wickets,” Pujara told Jio Hotstar.

“He is talented, and that World Cup dream he was talking about, I am sure, will not be far from reality. Yes, he has the dream to represent India at the World Cup, but he also has the ability. It’s important to focus on following the right process and keep improving, like he has done from last year to this season,” he added.

Batting first, LSG posted a massive total courtesy a blazing 111 from Mitchell Marsh and valuable contributions from skipper Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran. Defending a revised target of 213 under the DLS method, LSG struck early when Mohammad Shami set the tone with a wicket in the very first over, dismissing Jacob Bethell, Prince followed it up with an absolute peach to send Virat Kohli back, igniting celebrations.

Former New Zealand cricketer Mitchell McClenaghan called Prince wicket ball to Kohli a divine delivery, explaining that he hit the seam, which was enough to beat Kohli.

“It was a divine delivery. He wasn’t trying to swing the ball in. He just hit the seam. It just swung in enough off the seam to beat Virat. After that, Padikkal was a big wicket as well. He has been in exceptional form and, just to be able to tighten him up slightly on that line, was crucial. He was searching for that ball on the hip to play the pull shot.

“We’ve seen Jitesh Sharma get out this way in this tournament so far, quite regularly, and that’s great execution. There would have been a plan before the game to make sure that they tested him upstairs with a short ball, but you’ve still got to be able to execute it, and the little extra pace that he possesses was able to get the job done,” he said.

–IANS

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