Lockie Ferguson: Kiwis’s golden goose in the middle overs | Cricket-world-cup News

Lockie Ferguson loves his yorkers. When he is in crisis, it is invariably his go-to delivery. Whenever he feels low on confidence, he quickly pulls out his tab and switches on YouTube to rewatch the toe-crusher that castled Faf du Plessis in the 2019 World Cup. It is the reason IPL teams spend big on him. Not just the yorkers, he has one of the most deceptive bouncers around too. Everything, thus, is lethal about him, from the black shoes too and the bushy moustache.
If the 2019 edition established Ferguson as a full-fledged force, this time it has been a self-discovery of sorts for the 32-year-old, who has been off-colour off late. In a team that has Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Tim Southee, Ferguson is their middle-overs workhorse. In many ways, he does the Neil Wagner job in white ball. On Friday, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium where the pitch was perfect for batting, Ferguson’s pace made all the difference, preventing Bangladesh from compiling a total that would have been beyond New Zealand’s reach.
After Litton Das had gifted Boult a wicket off the first delivery holding out at fine-leg, Bangladesh were recovering through Tanzid Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Between these two teams there is dispute as to who the better one is, but Bangladesh have been a thorn in the flesh for New Zealand in the recent years, even enjoying a 13-year unbeaten winning streak in subcontinental conditions until recently.

Leader, second fiddle
With Boult choosing to be a T20 freelancer and Southee resting in between, Ferguson became New Zealand attack’s leader. But here he was playing second fiddle to Boult and Henry, trying to make the new ball talk. Tempted the spin-friendly conditions on offer, New Zealand could have easily benched Ferguson and brought in leg-spinner Ish Sodhi. No questions would have been asked, especially considering how much Ferguson has struggled off late. Instead, Kane Williamson stuck with Ferguson, whose biggest strength is pace, especially through the air, which makes him an all-condition bowler. He is a golden goose, especially in the middle overs.
After watching Boult and Henry not getting sufficient purchase bowling full, Ferguson has already received clues about the pitch’s nature. He realised that bounce could be the saviour on perfect batting conditions. So Ferguson kept aside those yorkers of his, the ones that gives him the feel and shoots up his adrenaline. The margin of error on this surface was too small to execute them. Tanzid, though, was waiting for it. The bouncer he sent down made the left-hander all the more cautious. He was expecting the age-old bluff as Ferguson moved around the wicket. Tanzid was so spooked that as he saw one angling-in, he went for an expansive flick straight into Devon Conway’s hands at square-leg.

In his next over, Ferguson started with two bouncers to Miraz. You could see him get the feel of it. The bouncer was giving him the same feel as the yorker. Williamson rewarded him bringing on left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner – one who has impeccable control – from the other end to suffocate Bangladesh.
Apart from the two bouncers, Ferguson also used the short balls to good effect. With all scoring shots locked, he seared a148 kph-rocket that Miraz left. Playing as a floater these days, Miraz still has not acquired the patience to build long innings. You could sense his patience running dry and as he saw another short ball, he went for the pull. At Ferguson’s pace, he never seemed in control and held out at fine-leg. On a hot afternoon, Ferguson’s first spell read 4-0-12-2 as Bangladesh slipped to 56/4.Most Read
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From there on, the short ball tactic invariably became New Zealand pacers’ ploy. For the majority of the middle-overs when their pacers operated, Williamson had his boundary riders behind the square or in front of square, with both mid-on and mid-off stationed inside the circle. Not even when Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim built a steady partnership did the Kiwis think of any alternate route. Bowling fuller length was always going to be futile on this pitch. If it ever landed in the arc, Rahim and Shakib made it disappear.

the time Ferguson returned for his second spell, Bangladesh had restored some momentum. Rahim upper cut and pulled Ferguson for a boundary and a six to bring up a wonderfully compiled half-century. Two overs of Ferguson’s second spell done, and no wickets in sight, credit should go to Williamson for giving him another over. At the other end, Rachin Ravindra had conceded 12 runs.
Even Shakib, who appeared sedate through the 96-run stand, was beginning to free his arms. This was going to be a make or break over for New Zealand and Williamson as he risked keeping only three of Ferguson’s overs for the last 10. Two short balls, a sharp bouncer and a top-edged six from a delivery that angled into Shakib’s body, a 260-plus total looked in sight. Ferguson, though, wasn’t done. He still had one more bouncer to play around and off the fifth, sent a sharp one, which Shakib pulled without being in control. Tom Latham accepted the skier. From there on, the rest of Kiwi attack joined Ferguson in the party as Bangladesh crawled to 245, a total that was at least 30 runs short of par score.