Delhi Capitals’ South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, whose sensational performance helped the Shreyas Iyer-led team beat Kings XI Punjab in heir first match of this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL), has said that he relished being under pressure.

On Sunday, Rabada took wickets of two Punjab batsmen to restrict them to just two runs in the super over after the match was tied at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

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“I think it was incredible batting by Stoinis. He played an unbelievable innings towards the end to get us to a respectable total, and I thought Shreyas (Iyer) and Rishabh (Pant) batted extremely well together to get us out of that hole early on,” said the South African as quoted by IANS.

“What a day Stoinis had – he bowled two full tosses and got two wickets so it was his day. And from there, I think we took our opportunity to win that game,” he added.

While Marcus Stoinis proved to be the vital cog with both bat and ball in both the innings, Delhi Capitals managed to hold Kings XI Punjab to the tied score despite Mayank Agarwal’s brilliant knock of 89 runs.

Rabada then conceded just two runs off the first ball of the super over. However, the South African came back to pick up the Indian opener’s wicket by following him down the leg side and forcing him into an awkward position to play the pull shot, which eventually found Axar Patel’s hands.

“You don’t plan anything. I don’t plan to win, but instead I plan to execute to win, and I think I managed to do that well in the Super Over,” Rabada commented on how he approached the six deliveries.

The pacer then managed to strike again as he took apart Nicholas Pooran’s off stump to wrap up the innings in just three balls. “That’s just the way a game of cricket goes. Honestly it was a big relief because I knew if I did that, and with the kind of batters we have, three runs to win, we could do that. I was just very relieved that I took the wicket and could help the team in winning,” expressed Rabada.

Delhi Capitals will next face Chennai Super Kings on Friday and Rabada hopes the top-order, which failed against Kings XI, would get back to form and would click.

“Unfortunately our top order couldn’t do it this time, but we know all of them are quality players and will click in the upcoming games. So, you know, happy for the win but there’s still a long way to go in this tournament.”

With IANS inputs