25-year-old West Indies all-rounder Odean Smith is not looking too ahead of himself after a dream debut in the IPL. He powered Punjab Kings (PBKS) to a win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday.
After Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to ball, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 205 runs for the loss of 02 wickets in 20 overs. Skipper Faf du Plessis scored 88 and Kohli 41. D Karthik, who played a fast innings in the last few overs, scored 32 off 14 balls.
Chasing a target of 206, Banuka Rajapaksa scored 43 off 22 balls and Shikhar Dhawan scored 43 off 29 balls.
With 156 runs, Livingston were out for the fifth wicket with Odean Smith scoring 25 off 08 balls to take the Punjab Kings to victory with Shah Rukh Khan in the final over. It consisted of three sixes and one four.
Smith had played CPL and T10 before playing in the IPL, where he did a lot of work. He said in January before the tournament,
“I had put in a lot of work going into that CPL, so I was quite confident. That was a big part of why I did well I was very confident in my body, physically, and that’s where it all started. I just went out there and expressed myself. “
That confidence in his game came to the fore on his IPL debut too. After an ordinary shift with the ball – he gave up 52 runs in four overs – he rallied with the bat to stun RCB with a Player-of-the-Match performance.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Odean Smith said he got off to a good start and was able to finish well. He also said that although it was a good wicket, he could not bowl as planned. Bangalore scored 52 runs in his 04 overs and Smith said that there is no baggage on the team and that it is solely focused on winning games.
Smith said:
“It can be a first for most of us. Punjab Kings haven’t won the title yet, but it’s all about winning. We watched a motivational movie called 14 Peaks. The first peak is done; 13 more to go.”
The stage was set for the West Indian to unleash his big shots when he arrived at the crease. The 25-year-old Jamaican got a reprieve when he was on 1, and he made RCB pay for that.
Smith smacked three sixes and a boundary in the next four deliveries to set up the victory for the Kings. He said that the team had the belief to chase down the 206 run target set by Bangalore. Earlier, RCB rode on a 118-run partnership between captain Faf du Plessis and former captain Virat Kohli.
“We were stressing on having a good start. It was all about belief. Once we got a good start, we knew we have the power at the back end,” Smith continued.”I’ve got to work on that” – Odean Smith on his bowling
Meanwhile, the start wasn’t that great for the overseas all-rounder, as he was taken to the cleaners in the first half of the game. Smith conceded 52 runs in his four overs as Du Plessis, Kohli and Dinesh Karthik clobbered him all over the park.
Disappointed with his bowling effort, Smith said that he needs to work on that ahead of the next game, adding:
“It didn’t go to plan with my bowling – I’ve got to work on that. But I’m glad to get my team home (with the bat). It was all about execution, and that’s the reason why it went haywire (with the ball).”