LUCKNOW: Kyle Mayers’ blistering 73-run knock, followed by Mark Wood’s five-wicket haul, helped Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by a comfortable margin of 50 runs at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.
Chasing a challenging 194-run target, Delhi Capitals got off to a quick start as Prithvi Shaw batted aggressively with his skipper David Warner with pacer Jaydev Unadkat conceding 17 runs in the second over. Mark Wood broke the 41-run opening partnership cleaning up Shaw for 12 from 9 balls.
In the very next ball Wood dismissed Mitchell Marsh for a golden duck to leave Delhi in a spot of bother at 41/2. Wood struck for the third time in a row dismissing wicket-keeper batter Sarfaraz Khan for 4 to leave DC tottering at 46/3.
Rilee Rossouw walked in to bat with Warner and the duo took their team’s total beyond the 50-run mark in 7.3 overs.
The 38-run partnership between Warner and Rossouw was broken by leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi as he was dismissed caught by Kyle Mayers for 30 from 20 balls as Delhi lost their fourth wicket for 86.
Rovman Powell then joined his captain but failed to make an impact as he was dismissed leg-before wicket for 1 by Bishnoi who took his second wicket of the match. Delhi Capitals lost half of their side for 94.
Delhi’s ‘Impact Player’ Aman Hakim Khan walked out to bat and alongwith Warner took their team’s total beyond the 100-run mark in 14.1 overs. Captain Warner was the only one who showed some stomach for a fight as he notched up his half-century in 45 balls.
Aman failed to make an impact as he was dismissed by pacer Avesh Khan for 4. Two balls later the pacer struck again and this time he got the prized scalp of captain Warner for 56 from 48 balls to leave DC tottering at 113/7.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav struck a small partnership, but it turned out to be too little and too late for Delhi Capitals as they needed 55 runs to win of last over. Pacer Wood got his fourth wicket dismissing Axar Patel for 16 from 11 balls as Delhi lost their eighth wicket for 139.
Wood went on to bag the first five-wicket haul of the season as he dismissed Chetan Sakariya for 4 and Delhi could only manage 143/9 in 20 overs falling 50 runs short of the target. Wood finished with brilliant figures of 5 for 14 in four overs.
Earlier in the day, putting Lucknow Super Giants to bat after winning the toss, Delhi Capitals got the wicket of skipper K L Rahul for 8 as he was dismissed by left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya. LSG lost their first wicket at the score of 19 in the fourth over.
Kyle Mayers and Deepak Hooda then struck a partnership for Lucknow and the duo took their team’s total beyond the 50-run mark in 7.1 overs. Mayers kept on attacking Delhi bowlers and notched up his half-century in just 28 balls. Mayers alongwith Hooda put on a 50-run stand for the second wicket in just 27 balls.
The 79-run partnership was finally broken when Kuldeep Yadav got the wicket of Hooda for 17, made from 18 balls, and LSG lost their second wicket for 98.
Krunal Pandya joined Mayers and took the team’s total beyond the triple-figure mark in 11.2 overs. But in the very next delivery, Axar Patel cleaned up Mayers’ stumps dismissing him for 73, which came from 38 balls and included seven sixes and two boundaries.
Marcus Stoinis then joined Krunal but failed to make much of an impact as Khaleel Ahmed dismissed him for 12, getting him caught behind by wicket-keeper batter Sarfaraz Khan.
Nicholas Pooran replaced Stoinis and alongwith Krunal took the side’s total beyond the 150-run mark in 17 overs. Pooran was the aggressor of the two, hitting massive sixes and boundaries.
Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed finally broke the 48-run partnership between Pooran and Krunal. He dismissed Pooran for 36, which were made from 21 balls, as LSG lost their fifth wicket for 165.
Khaleel finished with figures of 2/30 in four overs and he was immediately substituted by ‘Impact Player’ Aman Khan.
Ayush Badoni walked out to bat and went on to hit some big sixes in the final over of Sakariya to take the team’s total beyond the 180-run mark. Badoni was dismissed by Sakariya in the second last ball of the match for 18 from just 7 balls.
Krishnappa Gowtham walked out to bat as an ‘Impact Player’ for Lucknow Super Giants substituting Badoni and went on to hit six in the last ball of the innings to take the team’s total to 193/6 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: Lucknow Super Giants 193/6 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 73 (38), Nicholas Pooran 36(21); Khaleel Ahmed 2/30) vs Delhi Capitals 143/9 in 20 overs (David Warner 56 (48); Mark Wood 5/14). (ANI)