Dubliner Joshua Little penned a new Indian Premier League first by becoming the first Irish player to play in the league. The 23-year-old started for the defending champions Gujarat Titans against the four-time winners Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
The left-arm pacer picked up Gujarat Titans in the mini-auction in February for 4.4 crore rupees. He is only the second Irishman in the League, after Eoin Morgan who made his debut in IPL as an England international. Eoin Morgan has played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Kings XI Punjab.
However, the debut didn’t start off perfectly for the Irishman. He leaked 15 runs in his debut over as Ruturaj Gaikwad took hold of the frailing CSK batting. Nevertheless, Little held his fort in his post-powerplay spell. He had his biggest moment when he eliminated experienced Ambati Rayudu in the thirteenth over.
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Little bowled it full aimed at the stumps. Rayudu came down to pull it up for a boundary but clearly missed the ball. The ball zoomed into the stumps, tearing down two stumps in its glory. Joshua Little finished his spell with 1/41 at an economy rate of 10.25 at the end of 20 overs.
Despite a poor start, Chennai Super Kings managed to get past 170 and finished the first innings at 178/7. The target set for the Gujarat Titans is 179.
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