Table of Contents
KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants wrapped up a comfortable victory against the Delhi Capitals after restricting Rishabh Pant’s side to under 150 despite an excellent start from opener Prithvi Shaw, who scored a wonderful half-century in the powerplay.
The Capitals did end up putting in a fighting performance with the ball, but Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni in the end struck boundaries at crucial junctures to give the Super Giants their third victory of the campaign after their defeat in their first game against the Gujarat Titans. Quinton de Kock was the star of the show with the bat, scoring a brilliant 80 to guide his side to victory by six wickets.
Lucknow skipper KL Rahul won the toss at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai and did not differ from conventional wisdom, as he opted to bowl first, keeping in mind the dew factor that could come into play later on in the game.
Aussie superstar David Warner was available for the game after missing the first few while on international duty. He made it back to the Delhi franchise, where he first started his journey in the league. However, it was his opening partner, Prithvi Shaw, who stole the show, playing a fantastic innings at the top to get his side off to a rollicking start. Everything he struck rocketed to the fence, reaching his half-century just after the powerplay overs, and departed soon after for a 34-ball 61.
Warner, on the other hand, was unusually subdued as he played an innings uncannily resembling that of Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.
Also read 👉 KKR’s Cummins blows Mumbai Indians away with the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history
The Australian struggled as Shaw flourished, and was just unable to get the ball away to the fence, eventually falling not long after Shaw’s dismissal for a forgettable 12-ball four, courtesy of the outrageously talented Ravi Bishnoi, who struck again almost immediately as he went through the gate to send back the dangerous Rovman Powell.
Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan, who has been in incredible form in the domestic circuit, were tasked with the responsibility of rebuilding the Delhi innings did quite a good job of it, but were unable to get the ferocious finish that was needed, as the Delhi innings closed on what was perhaps a sub-par score of 149/3.
Lucknow were never going to be bothered with a target of 150, especially given their ridiculously deep batting lineup, but captain Rahul was not in the best of form, as he too found it hard to get into his rhythm before an ill-advised hoick off Kuldeep Yadav spelt the end for the Karnataka man.
Evin Lewis, who looked good in the first couple of games, failed miserably this time, struggling before eventually heading back to the pavilion for a 13-ball five. De Kock, however, proved exactly how valuable his experience is for the Super Giants, as he made up for the poor start, even smashing Nortje for 19 runs in the fifth over.
De Kock was the orchestrator, with all the other batsmen just playing around the South African. However, Lucknow did get into a spot of bother, as de Kock was dismissed for 80, which brought some jitters in their batting as ŽC tried to pull the game back their way. They were partially successful, bowling a few very disciplined overs to get the run rate sneaking up to nearly 10 an over before Krunal Pandya struck a huge six off Mustafizur to relieve all the pressure.
With five needed off the last over, Shardul Thakur got rid of Krunal Pandya, but Badoni showed great composure, delivering two crucial blows to take his side home by six wickets.
Brief scores
Lucknow Super Giants 155 for 4 (de Kock 80, Kuldeep 2-31) beat Delhi Capitals 149 for 3 (Shaw 61, Pant 39, Sarfaraz 36, Bishnoi 2-22) by six wickets
2022 Indian Premier League table
| # | Team | Matches played | Wins | Losses | Points | NRR |
| 1 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1.10 |
| 2 | Lucknow Super Giants | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.26 |
| 3 | Rajasthan Royals | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1.22 |
| 4 | Gujarat Titans | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.50 |
| 5 | Punjab Kings | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.24 |
| 6 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.16 |
| 7 | Delhi Capitals | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -0.12 |
| 8 | Chennai Super Kings | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.25 |
| 9 | Mumbai Indians | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.36 |
| 10 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.83 |
