Blackcaps seamer Trent Boult has put in a man-of-the-match performance for the Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League win over Lucknow Super Giants.
Boult grabbed two wickets in as many balls, including the one of in-form South African opener, Quinton de Kock after a smart catch by fellow Blackcap Jimmy Neesham.
The left-arm quick trapped Ayush Badoni right in front the very next ball for leg before wicket to leave the Super Giants 15-2, chasing the Royals target of 179.
The Super Giants would fall 24 runs short, with only Indian middle-order batter Deepak Hooda offering any kind of resistance, scoring a valiant 59 runs off just 39 balls.
Boult also played his part with the bat, hitting a quick-fire 17 off just nine balls. Neesham was run out for just 14 but received special mention from his captain, Sanju Samson for the energy he brought in the field.
Boult was pleased with his performance in such a tricky environment.
"Happy to get swing, some days are better than others. I'm happy with the wickets," he said. "I have a simple game with the ball, I try to pitch it up and am happy to swing it. But not happy at No. 8 but we'll see how it goes there.
"Neesham's catch was good, the intensity in the field was high. It's nice to be on the right side of the result. I'm not surprised that today's four was my first but I'm discussing my batting at a press conference which I didn't think would happen.
"It's a tough place to bowl, foreign for me. It offers a lot of learnings and opportunities, and this is an exciting tournament to be a part of."
In the morning's earlier game, Devon Conway could only manage five runs as the Chennai Super Kings went down to Gujarat Titans. Teammate and fellow Blackcap Mitchell Santner was largely uneffective but bowled an economical four overs as they lost by seven wickets.
The Royals are second on the IPL table after the win, behind only Gujarat Titans. Their next game is against Conway and Santer's Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
