IND vs AUS 2023: Matt Kuhnemann expresses satisfaction over maiden fifer against India

Matthew Kuhnemann. (Photo Source: BCCI)

Australia’s spin-bowling sensation Matt Kuhnemann has expressed his delight on having played extremely well against India and claiming his maiden fifer. He achieved this special feat on Day 1 of the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.

Matt Kuhnemann was callled in from Australia at the eleventh hour, as a replacement for Mitchell Swepson who had left earlier to attend the birth of his child. Though Australia have lost the Test series, their spinners have managed to provide some quality performances, with Matt Kuhnemann’s fifer being one of those.

Naturally enough, Kuhnemann was overwhelmed with joy after achieving the dreamy feat against a star-studded Indian side. Full of praises for the Indore pitch, he even joked that he could play for the rest of his career in Indore itself.

“I could live here and play the rest of my career here, this is awesome. We just talked about bowling the same ball, owning my space,” said Kuhnemann.

‘Don’t get ahead of yourself’ – Nathan Lyon’s advice to Kuhnemann

Kuhnemann also mentioned how Nathan Lyon’s experience and his valuable inputs from mid-off helped Kuhneman maintain focus and not get complacent with the ball. He also mentioned that Lyon told him to enjoy his time in the middle as the pitch was different from those in Australia and was encouraging spin.

“Nathan Lyon was excellent out there. Even after a couple of wickets, he said, ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself, just think about bowling that ball’. He was great for me, at mid-off most of the day. Not every day you get these wickets like so enjoy them, it’s very different to what we get back home in Australia,” the 26-year-old said while speaking during the post-match press conference of Day 1 of the third Test.

The slow left-arm orthodox spinner found it hard to contain his excitement after his brilliant performance against India in the first innings. Kuhnemann finished with five wickets in his nine overs, conceding just sixteen runs at an impressive economy of 1.78. This was his maiden fifer in Tests.

Speaking about Day 2, Australia started off well in the first hour of Session 1 by adding 30 runs to their overnight score of 156/4, but the Indian bowling department bounced back to bundle them out for 197. At the end of Australia’s first innings, the visitors had a lead of 88 runs.

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