"There Were Few Words And...": Phil Salt On Verbal Exchange With Mohammed Siraj

A little bit of "needling" from RCB's best bowler Mohammad Siraj spurred Phil Salt to play a match winning innings for Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Siraj has been lethal with the new ball this season but he was at the receiving end on Saturday night when Salt took him to the cleaners in the fifth over of the run chase. Salt emerged as the undisputed winner following a heated exchange with Siraj, who was seen pointing fingers at the English opener after bowling a bouncer.

The 19-run over saw Salt smash couple of sixes and a four and Siraj wasn't given another spell. Salt's breathtaking 87 off 45 in his debut IPL season set up an emphatic win for the hosts. He said his chat with Siraj had a lot to do with the intensity of their away game against RCB at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"I am very satisfied with the knock. Obviously, there was a little bit of needle. A lot of our pre-match talk was about really taking it to them, which I felt we did really well. There were a few words and a bit of needle. It spurs on most blokes to be honest, certainly myself," said the destructive England keeper-batter.

It was a conscious decision from Salt to take the attack to Siraj as rattling the opposition's best bowler sends "calm" to the dressing room.

"If you take on a side's best bowler and win that particular battle, the message it sends back to the dug-out is one of calm. When that happens, you see guys come out confidently. You saw Marsh hit his second ball for six and Rossouw come out to bat as if he has already faced 30 balls. So that is the method behind it." Salt's sensational effort comprised half a dozen sixes and eight fours with the flat six off Siraj over cover standing out. The 26-year-old represents the fearless