Lucknow Super giants (LSG) took on Delhi Capitals (DC) at home on April 12. After 3 wins in 4 matches, Lucknow won the toss and elected to bat first.
Lucknow lost their first wicket early. Quinton de Kock hit four 4s for his 19 off 13 balls until he was caught in front of the stumps by Khaleel Ahmed. Devdutt Padikkal came and returned in a moment. Soon LSG were 41/2 in 4.2 overs. Although they lost a couple of wickets, they scored at a decent rate.
Then came the bad one from Kuldeep Yadav. Marcus Stoinis failed to read his googly and was caught by Ishant Sharma at Short Third Man. In the next delivery, Nicholas Pooran was outwitted by Kuldeep’s googly and was caught. LSG were 66/4 in 7.4 overs.
Captain KL Rahul batted 39 off 22 balls. By then he had already hit five 4s and one 6. Rishabh Pant caught the stumps as DRS went in Delhi’s favour.
LSG were 128/7 in 17 overs, with Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya out. Lucknow needed a good finish and it was up to Ayush Badoni. His 55 off 35 balls helped LSG reach 167/7 in 20 overs. It looked like a fighting total in a venue where scoring is not easy.
David Warner had another day off at the office. He was out for 8 off 9 balls. DC were 24/1 in the 4th over. But then it was time to give birth to a new IPL star: Jake Fraser-McGurk. The Australian batsman first combined with Prithvi Shaw (32 off 22 balls) and then Pant. His 55 off 35 balls helped Delhi score quickly. When Naveen-ul-Haq got his wicket, DC were 140/3 in 14.4 overs.
Pant scored freely. His 41 off 24 balls took DC closer to the finish line. Then it was up to Tristan Stubbs and Shai Hope to take DC home. Delhi won by 6 wickets to record their second win in 6 matches.
