Ashutosh Sharma (66 n.o., 31b, 5×4, 5×6) stripped Lucknow Super Giants of every morsel of pleasure it had earned until the fag end of the match on Monday, as he amassed 32 of the required 39 runs off the last 18 balls for Delhi Capitals to chase down an improbable 210-run target, from 65 for five, and win by one wicket in the IPL at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here.
Ashutosh drained Super Giants’ hopes in a swish. With 38 needed off 15, he hit Ravi Bishnoi for a six, a four, and a six. And with 18 needed off the last nine, he scored a double, a six, and a four off 23-year old debutant pacer Prince Yadav.
In the last over, Capitals tried to either keep Mohit Sharma on strike or get him out. But the veteran sneaked a single for Ashutosh to pull off the heist with a six.
AS IT HAPPENED, DC VS LSG | Ashutosh Sharma hits 66 as Delhi Capitals beats Lucknow Super Giants by 1 wicket
Crucial stand
Ashutosh and Vipraj Nigam (39, 15b, 5×4, 2×6) engaged in an ominous 55-run seventh-wicket stand. But when it was broken, it felt like a threat that had faded into the background like a smoke alarm after 22 balls. But Ashutosh had other plans.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh (72, 36b, 6×4, 6×6) and Nicholas Pooran (75, 30b, 6×4, 7×6) combined to leave the Capitals bowlers high and dry as the Super Giants racked up 209 for eight.
Marsh put away Starc’s inflamed deliveries — hurled at 140+ kph — in the third over with casual cheer. He was picked apart for a four, a six, and a four in a row. This was after Starc’s 144.5 kph delivery was roasted to a crisp in the first over of the match itself — it was an outrageously economical flick from Marsh that sent the ball soaring over the deep midwicket boundary for a six.
Mitchell Marsh (72, 36b, 6×4, 6×6) and Nicholas Pooran (75, 30b, 6×4, 7×6) combined to leave the Capitals bowlers high and dry.
| Photo Credit:
DEEPAK KR
Mitchell Marsh (72, 36b, 6×4, 6×6) and Nicholas Pooran (75, 30b, 6×4, 7×6) combined to leave the Capitals bowlers high and dry.
| Photo Credit:
DEEPAK KR
When Pooran too settled into his labour — of hitting fours and sixes — in earnest, it was fissile times for Capitals. He hit a straight six and a six over midwicket, back-to-back, in debutant leg-spinner Vipraj’s first over. The second was a googly rendered inconsequential. After he slashed hard at a googly again and was dropped by Sameer Rizvi at backward point, he rubbed salt into the wound with another six down the ground.
After Marsh fell, Stubbs was surprisingly entrusted with bowling the 13th over to Pooran. Barring the first delivery, four sixes and a four rained from Pooran’s bat in a bitter, pestilential, and soul-straining way for the Capitals.
Just when Pooran seemed set to get a grand hundred, Starc ripped a gash with a 140 clicks fuller delivery that hit his off-stump with a teeth-jarring clatter.
The bowlers commendably pulled it back thereafter, as the Super Giants managed only 39 runs for the loss of four wickets in the last five overs. That ultimately proved costly.