Adam Hose is delighted with the rapid progress being made in his career by Worcestershire Rapids bowling hero Usama Mir and said: “I’m really happy he is on our side.”
The Pakistan leg spinner helped tear the heart out of the Northamptonshire Steelbacks batting with 3-21 in four overs as the Rapids triumphed by 15 runs in their opening Vitality Blast fixture at the County Ground, Northamptonshire.
Hose, who struck 61 off 40 balls, had been impressed when previously facing Usama who has signed for the opening three games of the tournament as a replacement for Mitchell Santner.
He also made an important contribution with the bat in smashing an unbeaten 20 off just seven balls in Worcestershire’s total of 196-9.
Hose said: I remember facing him. He was playing a little bit in the Pakistan Super League, and, when I was at Warwickshire last year, he came along and bowled.
“I hadn’t seen too much of him, and I was thinking ‘Wow, this guy can really bowl’ so it’s awesome to see his career flourish over the last six to 12 months.
“I’m really happy he is on our side.
“He is a tall bloke who gets a lot of bounce, he has got the variations, and I think the main thing is he changes his pace really well and makes for a really dangerous operator.
“He also got some quick runs, and those are the sort of things that swing the momentum of games, so happy he can hold a bat as well!”
Hose was delighted with the team’s performance and to continue the fine form he had shown in the LV=Insurance County Championship win over Leicestershire when hitting 84.
He said: “The perfect night? All-round, a really good team effort, contributions right throughout the batting and the same with the bowling.
“In terms of it being Game One, I think we can consider it a pretty good one.
“Confident of having a defendable score? I think if you had offered 196 at the start of the day, I probably would have bitten your hand off.
“We knew they’ve got a pretty powerful batting line-up, and it can only take one bloke to get them close to that.
“We knew we had to be at our best, and tonight I thought we were pretty close to that.
“They got off to a really good start which can happen. Chris Lynn is a high-class player, he has done it all around the world.
“As a whole, the fielding is something we can control, and it’s an attitude thing, and it’s something we are really hot on.
“I thought today we were pretty much spot on, and that should be our benchmark for the rest of the tournament.
“With myself, it is nice to transition from the red ball form I found into the white ball at the start of the campaign. Just really happy to contribute to the team.
“There is huge confidence at the moment, and that is just something we’ve got to believe and remember at times when something just feels quite far away, like that total did in the red ball against Leicestershire.
“It really doesn’t take much to turn things around, and it is something that is really important to remember taking into this white ball campaign.”
