Lewis Gregory: "I'm not a massive numbers bloke"

The Islamabad United all-rounder starred for his side against Multan Sultans, taking two wickets and scoring 49 runs, but says he isn't driven by personal milestones

In the third match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Somerset and England all-rounder Lewis Gregory played a crucial role in Islamabad United’s three-wicket victory over the Multan Sultans team at the National Stadium Karachi.  

"First and foremost it’s great to get a win on the board up front and hopefully we can build a lot of confidence from that. It’s really nice to contribute in any form and a win is really nice," Gregory says.

Chasing a target of 150, Gregory, batting at number seven, scored 49 not out off 31 balls and helped his team cross the line. In his innings, he hit six fours and one six. Earlier, with the ball, he took two vital scalps of James Vince and Khushdil Shah.

"Any way I can contribute to the team in a positive manner that’s what I’m going to try and do. It was nice to have a good all-round day with the bat and ball, hopefully, there are a few more to come," he says.

"I think we bowled fantastically well to keep them to what we did which kind of enabled me to take it deep. We were always up with the run rate if not ahead for most of the chase so I had the time to able to face a few balls to get used to the surface, to get myself in and take it deep, you know, with relatively short boundaries and with a quick outfield you knew that you could score a few in the last few overs," he adds.

^{Lewis Gregory was awarded player of the match for his performance against Multan Sultans}

The 28-year old scored 19 runs in the penultimate over bowled by the T20 specialist and his former Somerset teammate Sohail Tanvir.

"I’ve played with Sohail for Somerset many years ago, I don’t know if he remembers that, but yeah, that was the over I was going to target; with short leg-side boundary I managed to find the gap a few times and luckily got us home," he says.

Gregory is pleased to see the crowd in the PSL and to play in front of the Pakistani fans. "It’s fantastic obviously and it’s great to have some crowd in. It would’ve been nice to have a full house but the way the world is at the moment it’s just nice to play in front of people and try and entertain as much we can.

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"It’s a great experience, cricket is mad out here it’s amazing to be out here and playing in front of them," he says. Gregory is pretty confident about his team Islamabad United chances in the PSL 6 and reckons that team goals are more important than personal milestones.  

"We are here to win and today is a fantastic start, personally, I’m not that fussed (about personal milestones) to be honest, it’s just about winning games and contributing as much I can, I’m not a massive numbers bloke so I try to contribute in the field with the bat or ball or whatever it is, I try and contribute to winning games," he says.