Quinton de Kock hit an impressive 80 off 52 balls as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets for their third in a row in their first IPL season here on Thursday. It was their third straight victory.
After Prithvi Shaw hit 61 off 31 balls, Delhi Capitals lost their way and ended with 149 for 3 after Lucknow fielded first. This is what happened.
A team led by K L Rahul made sure that Lucknow’s 150 was easy to reach. They did so with two balls to spare on a tricky surface.
There were 73 runs in the stand between De Kock and Rahul, his first-team partner (24 off 25).
Anrich Nortje, a South African wicketkeeper-batter, played his first game since November. The wicketkeeper-batter was especially harsh on him. Paceman: De Kock hit three fours, and a six in an over that lost 19 runs. He was healthy again.
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It was a bad night for Nortje. The South African pacer had to be taken off the field after bowling two waist-high no balls.
After Rahul’s death, his team needed 76 runs off the last 10 overs to win the game. A score of 50 or more by De Kock was the team’s second 50-plus score of the tournament. He scored nine fours and two sixes to put the team on the brink of victory.
It wasn’t easy to bat on, so Lucknow had difficulty finishing the game. Even Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya, both in good form, couldn’t get the big hits.
In the last over, Ayush Badoni, a young player, hit a four and a six off Shardul Thakur to help Lucknow get the job done.
There were some great runs from Shaw before Lucknow came back into the game with an excellent bowling display. Ravi Bishnoi, a young leg-spinner, was the best player for the new IPL teams.
It was David Warner’s first innings of the season, and he didn’t do well. He returned to the team, where he made his IPL debut in 2009.
In the second over, off-spinner K Gowtham (1/23) was given the ball, and Shaw didn’t let him settle in. Shaw hit a full ball over cover for his first four of the game.
Jason Holder was the one who had to deal with that. Following over, Shaw hit Holder for six over mid-wicket. Avesh Khan was next, and he was hit for three straight fours in the fourth over.
Shaw looked like he was batting on a different surface while the rest of the team was having a hard time. His quick hands made it easy to cut the ball and drive anything full over the cover.
Even though the power play was over, Lucknow came back quickly. Shaw, Warner, and Rovman Powell were all killed off in 18 balls. It was a good start for the Capitals, who reached 52 for no loss in six overs.
During the 11th over, Warner fell to a bad shot from Bishnoi, and Powell saw his stumps move when he tried to slog-sweep off a googly from the young leg-break bowler. Shaw was caught behind Gowtham after hitting him for a straight six. This left the Capitals at 74 for three.
The captain, Rishabh Pant (39 not out of 36), had to lead the team to a good score. Sarfaraz Khan (36, not out of 28) played his first game for the team.
Pant mostly hit the straight boundaries. Sarfaraz, who didn’t take any chances, showed skills that earned him many runs in domestic cricket without taking many risks.
