Have been watching a lot of MS Dhoni's innings, reveals Grace Harris
After delivering a match-winning performance of 37-ball 53, Grace Harris has opined that batting in the middle overs is different from batting at the top, and watching MS Dhoni has helped her adjust to that. She added that she has worked on her gameplay to go deep and finish off the game at the end.
After having a below-par last season as an opener, totalling just 212 runs at 17.66, Grace Harris, who holds the record of competitionās fastest century, was slotted in at number 4 for BrisbaneĀ in the opening match against Perth Scorchers in WBBL. Batting in the middle-order, Grace Harris, went about her business in a clinical fashion scoring 53 off 37 to ensure Brisbane Heat got over the line without any fuss, starting off this season on a high.Ā
After her match-winning knock, Harris revealed that she has been watching MS Dhoniās innings to make changes to her gameplay and hoped that she would be able to do the same for the Heat.Ā
"I've been watching a lot of MS Dhoni's innings and took a bit of inspiration for him. He's a fantastic finisher, he might get behind but at the end, they win games and he's ahead of the count. I'm definitely hoping to do something similar to that. Watching those types of players, they are pretty cool," Harris said after her Player-of-the-Match award.Ā
She further went on to explain that she had to change her mindset to get used to the role in the middle-order, where she will have to consolidate and take the game deep as opposed to her previous role where she had to come out all guns blazing from the start. Harris revealed that the key to her match-winning innings was her not panicking in crunch situations.Ā
"I think it's just about batting a little bit smarter in that middle order. It's definitely a mindset change for me, and a little bit of a change of role. If I was playing up front I was generally told to just have a good crack and get ahead of the game as quickly as I could. Now that I'm sitting in the middle order the four are already out so it's about trying to get in and go deep in the innings,ā she said.Ā
"As you saw today, I struggled at the start to get off strike, but in the past I'd have panicked a bit and either run past one or had a crack at one early. I thought Glenn bowled very well to me early and made it hard for me to get away. Then HG [Heather Graham] bowled nice under-the-bat yorkers so I had to stay a little bit patient. [I was] chatting to Georgia Redmayne in the middle and just tried not to panic. I know I have that ability to catch up so it's just about finding that now."