BENGALURU: A seasoned campaigner who has played 114 first-class matches, Hanuma Vihari is all too familiar with the pressure tactics used by opposition teams. As such, North Zone 's time-wasting strategies came as no surprise for the 29-year-old.
Summing up his team's thrilling two-wicket win, the skipper said, "Once we lost the innings lead we knew we had to go for an outright win. The way we bowled in the third innings set up the game for us. Coming into today's play, we thought we would get 45-50 overs but we got even less because they delayed it at the end. But any team would do that."
Dwelling on North Zone's game plan in the final session, the Hyderabadi said, "I think domestic cricket is like that. I've come across a lot of games where teams try to delay in the final few overs to gain advantage. Some may say it is not in the spirit of the game but even if I was the captain, I would have done the same thing.
"They ended up on the losing side but if there was bad light they could have won. Anything to win, to a point, is fair. They will be penalised for slow over rate but they took the risk for a possible win. The delaying tactics affect the rhythm, but I told Tilak and Ricky to be prepared for it. Once the weather improved we sent a message that we have the time and to take singles. Communication was the key and on that front, we did well," Vihari said.
