Delhi Capitals not only barely managed to keep itself alive in the race to the Playoffs but also made things worse for Lucknow Super Giants after beating the latter by 19 runs in an IPL match here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing 209, Ishant Sharma rocked Super Giants inside the PowerPlay, picking three wickets and leaving the Lucknow-based franchise struggling at 44 for four.
The pacer got K.L. Rahul caught in the first over, Quinton de Kock in the next, and followed by trapping Deepak Hooda in front in his third.
Pooran explodes
LSG still managed to get 59 runs in the first six overs, thanks to Nicholas Pooran taking down Axar Patel, who removed Marcus Stoinis off the first ball, for 20 runs in the fourth over.
While Pooran looked at ease hitting six fours and four sixes during his 27-ball 61, he couldn’t garner much support from the other end. Arshad Khan then threatened to close the game with his 33-ball 58 but it wasn’t enough for LSG to get two points.
Put into bat, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel helped Capitals post an eighth 200-plus score at the Arun Jaitley Stadium — joint most at any venue in a season.
Stubbs hit four sixes and three fours during his unbeaten 57 as Capitals smashed 72 runs in death overs, after LSG threatened to choke the scoring rate in the middle phase.
Stubbs scored his first boundary — a six — only off his 10th ball against Arshad. In the same over, he hit two more fours.
His innings came at a time when Ravi Bishnoi (one for 26) and spinners didn’t allow batters to score freely.
Bishnoi picked the crucial wicket of Porel, who hit 58 in 33 balls and helped DC cross the 100-run mark inside 10 overs.
Opening the innings, Porel began with an upper cut for six against Mohsin Khan before smashing three fours and a six in the Arshad’s next over.
Shai Hope then smacked Yudhvir Singh for two fours and a six as DC raced to 73 runs inside the PowerPlay despite losing Jake Fraser-McGurk for a two-ball duck in the first over.
Scoreboard
DELHI CAPITALS
Jake Fraser-McGurk c Naveen b Arshad 0 (2b), Abishek Porel c Pooran b Naveen 58 (33b, 5×4, 4×6), Shai Hope c Rahul b Bishnoi 38 (27b, 3×4, 2×6), Rishabh Pant c Hooda b Naveen 33 (23b, 5×4), Tristan Stubbs (not out) 57 (25b, 3×4, 4×6), Axar Patel (not out) 14 (10b, 2×4); Extras (w-8): 8; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 208.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-2 (Fraser-McGurk, 0.2 overs), 2-94 (Hope, 8.3), 3-111 (Porel, 11.1), 4-158 (Pant, 16.2).
SUPER GIANTS BOWLING
Arshad 3-0-45-1, Mohsin 4-0-29-0, Yudhvir 2-0-28-0, Naveen 4-0-51-2, Bishnoi 4-0-26-1, Krunal 2-0-20-0, Hooda 1-0-9-0.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
Quinton de Kock c Mukesh b Ishant 12 (8b, 2×4), K.L. Rahul c Mukesh b Ishant 5 (3b, 1×4), Marcus Stoinis st. Pant b Axar 5 (7b, 1×4), Deepak Hooda lbw b Ishant 0 (2b), Nicholas Pooran c Axar b Mukesh 61 (27b, 6×4, 4×6), Ayush Badoni (Impact Player in place of Mohsin) c Gulbadin b Stubbs 6 (9b), Krunal Pandya st. Pant b Kuldeep 18 (18b, 2×4), Arshad Khan (not out) 58 (33b, 3×4, 5×6), Yudhvir Singh c Hope b Khaleel 14 (7b, 1×4, 1×6), Ravi Bishnoi run out 2 (2b), Naveen-ul-Haq (not out) 2 (4b); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 189.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-7 (Rahul, 0.5), 2-24 (de Kock, 2.5), 3-24 (Stoinis, 3.1), 4-44 (Hooda, 4.1), 5-71 (Badoni, 7.3), 6-101 (Pooran, 11.1), 7-134 (Krunal, 14.4), 8-167 (Yudhvir, 16.6), 9-183 (Bishnoi, 18.3).
CAPITALS BOWLING
Ishant (Impact Player in place of Porel) 4-0-34-3, Khaleel 2-0-22-1, Axar 1-0-20-1, Mukesh 4-0-33-1, Kuldeep 4-0-33-1, Stubbs 1-0-4-1, Gulbadin 1-0-12-0, Rasikh 3-0-30-0.
Toss: LSG; PoM: Ishant.
Capitals won by 19 runs.
