Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 31 (ANI): Following the Rajasthan Royals (RR) win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) opener, former Indian cricketer Saba Karim hailed South African pace Nandre Burger for his scorching opening spell, pointing out how he stuck with good length deliveries and the tactic paid off for him on a pace-friendly wicket.

Burger's explosive opening spell against CSK put the five-time champions on the back foot, with quick wickets of Sanju Samson, who had a poor first outing in Yellow and India's U19 World Cup-winning skipper Ayush Mhatre.

Speaking during the 'Amul Cricket Live', Karim spoke on how he deceived Samson with movement and surprised Mhatre with a sharp bouncer, which landed into Dhruv Jurel's gloves. He also praised the bowler for his 'impeccable' line and length.

'Nandre Burger is rapid, and his line and length were quite impeccable. He bowled a special delivery to dismiss Sanju Samson. It was a natural variation that took the ball away from Samson. He took Ayush Mhatre by surprise with his sharp bouncer. Left-arm pacers in any case flourish bowling those kinds of deliveries,' said Karim.

Karim said that Burger tends to 'hurry the batter and catches them off guard with unexpected deliveries'.

'On a Guwahati pitch that was in favour of the pacers, Burger stuck to the good length deliveries, and they worked wonderfully for him,' concluded Karim.

Burger bagged the 'Player of the Match' for his spell of 2/26 in four overs.

Also, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar hailed Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who took off in the powerplay with a 17-ball 52 (including four boundaries and five sixes) to wipe out a massive chunk of the meagre 128-run target along with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Bangar lauded Suryavanshi for dominating a fine bowling attack consisting of New Zealand stalwart Matt Henry, Indian left-armer Khaleel Ahmed and pacer Anshul Kamboj and did not even spare the 'mystery' element of Noor Ahmed's spin.

'Vaibhav Suryavanshi was a class apart. He dominated a good bowling attack. He took on Matt Henry, a new ball bowler, who challenges top batters internationally. He toyed with Khaleel Ahmed, who swings the ball both ways. He got the better of Anshul Kamboj, known for hitting the deck hard with good length deliveries. He even made life difficult for mystery bowler Noor Ahmad,' said Bangar.

The former all-rounder was awed by the 15-year-old's ability to dominate four quality pacers and forcing them to move away from their usual strengths.

'Henry had to bowl slower balls. Khaleel had to try different things. He put pressure on all of them. That shows Vaibhav, with his fearless approach, is getting into the minds of established bowlers. I admired that quality in his innings. The start this wonder boy has had makes sure it's going to be a cracker of a season for him,' he concluded.

RR opted to bowl first, and Archer (2/19), Burger (2/26) and Jadeja (2/18) made CSK toil hard for every run as they sank to 57/6 at one point. Knocks from Jamie Overton (43 in 36 balls, with two fours and two sixes), Kartik Sharma (18), Sarfaraz Khan (17) helped CSK reach 127 in 19.4 overs before they ran out of batters. Suryavanshi (52 in 17 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (38* in 36 balls, with three fours and a six) set up a platform for an easy win with a quickfire 75-run stand. (ANI)