Manoj Tiwary reveals how he prepared himself to counter Shane Watson

The Rising Pune Supergiant’s performance with the bat was shoddy, they manage only 161 on the M Chinnaswamy pitch, where average score since the last year is 190 plus. And it was Manoj Tiwary’s splendid two overs cameo which got the visitors to 162, which the Pune bowlers defended successfully.

Pune’s middle order was weak, and it was upon the lower middle order to spring a surprise. And the Bengal batsman took it upon himself to take Pune to at least a decent score. Royal Challengers controlled the first 18 overs well, limiting the visitors to 132 for 7.

But then came Tiwary on the field, who missed Pune’s previous match due to his father’s sudden demise. Watson came in to bowl the penultimate over, only to be hit for 19 runs by Tiwary. He went on to score 27 off 11 balls to take a struggling Pune from 140 to 162.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, he revealed the secret behind his cameo, saying he was able to read Watson’s mind and also trying to figure out how to finish the game like MS Dhoni. He says he observed how Watson got the better of Dhoni, how he set the field, etc, and according to that he prepared himself to counter the Aussie all-rounder.

“I was observing what he [Shane Watson] was trying to do to MS Dhoni. He set a field and bowled differently. He got a wicket in the form of MS. For the kind of field set, I knew he’ll bowl similarly to me. Once the bouncer went for a wide, I knew he wouldn’t bowl another one. He bowled in my areas, he missed his execution and I was up for it. Pretty happy to contributed in the last phase.”

Tiwary went unsold at the auctions last year, but his start to the 2017 season, barring the one game he missed due to personal tragedy, has been quite good.