Watch: Naveen Ul Haq's diving catch off Amit Mishra's bowling to dismiss Abhinav Manohar

Naveen Ul Haq took a diving catch at the boundary line to dismiss Abhinav Manohar

Afghanistan's Naveen-ul-Haq playing in his debut IPL season for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) made a remarkable effort on the field to dismiss the dangerous Abhinav Manohar. The seamer was stationed at extra covers when he took off to his right to get under the ball and bundle it in his hands to send off Abhinav. The catch took place in the 12th over when Amit Mishra looped on outside off and Abhinav Manohar went through with the shot sans timing.

The 30th match of IPL 2023 between Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans took place at the home ground of LSG. Winning the toss and batting first, GT did not have the best of the starts as they lost their star opener, Shubman Gill for a blob. Wriddhiman Saha was striking the ball neatly from the other end until the powerplay got over. During the middle overs, the run rate never got going as GT struggled to even maintain 6 runs per over. Courtesy of their skipper, Hardik Pandya's flourish in the end, GT managed to post a total of 135 runs.

Naveen-ul-Haq bowls another quality spell for the Giants

The Afghan seamer, playing only in his second IPL match, was impressive with the ball. Taking up the new ball, Naveen stuck to his plans and was frugal with his bowling. Giving away only 19 runs in his quota of four overs, Naveen also bagged his maiden IPL wicket in the form of Vijay Shankar. On the last ball of the 15th over, Naveen uprooted the stumps of Shankar.

Skipper, KL Rahul has thrown the ball to him at different junctures of the game and Naveen rose to the expectations of his captain on all the occasions. Coincidentally, Naveen returned with the same figures in his first IPL match also only without a wicket. 4-0-19-0 was his first-ever IPL spell whereas, in his second match, he bowled a spell of 4-0-19-1.

In the absence of Mark Wood, Naveen-ul-Haq has grabbed the opportunity with both hands so far. Being able to deliver in this high-pressure league in your debut season is not a walk in the park but Naveen has accepted the challenge in some style. It remains to be seen whether Naveen gets a chance to play when Mark Wood returns and if he does, will he be able to carry on with his form?

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