"He is only going to get better"- Trent Boult showers praise on young Kuldeep Sen for his final over heroics against LSG

New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult was full of praise for young Kuldeep Sen following the latter's heroics against the Lucknow Supergiants on Sunday night to help Rajasthan Royals seal a thrilling win by 3 runs.

Sen, who was playing his maiden IPL game, held his nerves brilliantly against a big-hitting Marcus Stoinis to successfully defend 15 runs in the final over.

Sen (1/35 in four overs) impressed throughout his spell of four overs. He hit the pitch hard and clocked consistently above 140  but most importantly, his temperament under extreme pressure stood out.

Speaking to the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation, Boult reckoned that Sen nailed his skills brilliantly under extreme pressure and he will only get better with experience.  

"He executed it well in the end and he is only going to get better. Some quality fast bowling in our side and in the tournament going around," said Boult.

However, the tone for Rajasthan's successful defence of 166 was set by Boult himself.

The champion Kiwi seamer bowled one of the great first overs one would ever see at the start of the T20 innings.

He started off by surprisingly coming round the wicket for Lucknow skipper KL Rahul. The idea was to swing the ball into Rahul and target either his pads or stumps. He did that with precision as the ball swung back viciously into Rahul and before he could react to it, his leg-stump laid flat on the ground.

Following Rahul's dismissal,  Lucknow decided to promote Krishnappa Gowtham as a pinch-hitter but the move backfired substantially as Boult got one to jag back into the right-hander to trap him plumb in front.

Speaking on his role as a powerplay bowler, Boult said that the equation is pretty simple for him- get the ball to swing and take wickets- and the humid conditions on Sunday night aided his bowling style.

"My role with the new ball is to take as many wickets as possible. It's a pretty simple game for me get wickets at the top and get it to swing. The humidity and the overheads assisted it," said Boult.

Thanks to a three-run win, the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals have now claimed three wins in four to strengthen their hold at the numero-uno spot in the points table.

They will next face the Gujarat Titans on April 14.