IPL 13: Hitting Nortje for six gave me confidence, says Abdul Samad

Abu Dhabi [UAE], September 30 (ANI): SunRisers Hyderabad's all-rounder Abdul Samad has said that hitting Delhi Capitals' pacer Anrich Nortje for a six has given him a lot of confidence to do well in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
His remark came as SRH defeated Delhi Capitals by 15 runs on Tuesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Samad was given a game for SRH against Delhi Capitals in place of Mohammad Nabi.
With this, Samad became the third player of Jammu and Kashmir to play in the IPL. Parveez Rasool and Rasikh Salam are the other two players to have played at least one match in the IPL.
Batting first, SRH had posted a total of 162/4 in the allotted twenty overs. Jonny Bairstow and David Warner had put on an opening stand of 77 runs. Warner played a knock of 45 runs while Bairstow played an innings of 53 runs.
Kane Williamson also chipped in with a knock of 41 runs to take SRH's total past the 160-run mark. For Delhi, Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with the figures of 2-21 from his four overs. Samad remained unbeaten on Hyderabad as he played an innings of 12 runs and he also managed to hit one six off the bowling of Anrich Nortje.
"Yeah, I felt really good playing my first match in the IPL. I also hit a big six off the bowling of Anrich Nortje, it gave me confidence that I will be able to do good in the coming games. People back home have a lot of expectations from me, I hope to do well," Samad told Rashid Khan in a video posted on iplt20.com.
"Before coming out to bat, the team management had told me to express myself and to play the way I normally do. I started hitting from the first ball, I missed one-two balls, but the six I was able to hit, I got a lot of confidence from that," he added.
The 18-year-old Samad had made his first-class, List A and T20 debut for Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
Delhi Capitals was chasing 162, but they were restricted to just 147/7 as Rashid Khan returned with the figures of 3-14 from his quota of four overs. Rashid took the wickets of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Shikhar Dhawan
"Initially, when I bowled my first ball and I was able to get turn, so I realised the ball is turning and I also summarised that the ball is turning more when I am bowling it quicker. I tried bowling in just the right areas and was looking to bowl dot balls to create pressure on the Delhi batsmen," Rashid told Samad.
SunRisers Hyderabad will next take on Chennai Super Kings on October 2 while Delhi Capitals will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders on October 3. (ANI)