‘I‘ve settled in nicely now’ – Joshua Little reflects on his Player of the Match performance against KKR

Gujarat Titans (GT) fast-bowler Joshua Little has reflected on his performance against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 39th match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday, April 29 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The Hardik Pandya-led side defeated KKR by seven wickets to climb to the top of the IPL 2023 points table. KKR, on the other hand, are placed seventh in the points table with three wins and six losses.

Little said that he spoke with GT captain Hardik Pandya and thought to stick to a simple game plan against KKR. The Irish cricketer added that he had settled into the GT camp nicely and that his plan against KKR was to smash the ball at the back of the length. Notably, the 23-year-old grabbed two wickets and gave away just 25 runs in his four overs.   

“I just spoke to Hardik before the game and we talked about keeping it as simple as possible – hitting the hard lengths, and happy that I could do it today,” Little said in the post-match press conference.

“The first game of the season was always going to be nerves. I have settled in nicely now. It was just about smashing back of a length and letting the ball do the talking,” he added.

GT beat KKR by seven wickets in Kolkata

Coming to the match, Hardik won the toss and invited KKR to bat first. KKR posted 179/7 in 20 overs, with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (81 off 39) scoring a stunning half-century. For GT, Mohammed Shami claimed a three-wicket haul while Little and Noor Ahmad scalped two each.

The defending champions chased down the target in 17.5 overs, thanks to a brilliant half-century from Vijay Shankar. He stitched a stunning partnership with David Miller and scored 51 runs in 24 balls to hand GT their sixth win of the season. Meanwhile, Harshit Rana, Andre Russel, and Sunil Narine picked one wicket each for the home side.