Rashid relishes back of a length on Chennai pitch, gets AB

Chennai, April 14 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bangalore's Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan attributed his successful spell on Wednesday night to his accuracy and the slow nature of the MA Chidambaram pitch.Rashid took two wickets for 18 runs including the prized wicket of AB de Villiers, whose 48 off 27 balls on a tough wicket in the tournament opener had carried his team to a close two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians off the last ball. "As a spinner, you'd love such tracks, it's slow and there's a bit of bounce, but you need to be accurate with the line and length. It's the kind of wicket where if you bowl back of a length you'll get purchase," said Rashid after the innings. "If you back up your strengths, you can perform on this surface," he added.While Rashid picked two wickets, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, who opened the bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets for 30 runs.Rashid mixed his deliveries well and confused the batsmen. He got de Villiers off a shortish leg-break which the South African batsman hit straight to cover. Holder kept a tight line and got rid of Kohli off a short ball which he couldn't control.
--IANS kh/