Lucknow: A fantastic exhibition of clever variations by Delhi’s pace troika, couple with an injury to skipper Rishabh Pant, left Lucknow Super Giants in complete tatters as the hosts managed only 159 for 6 in an IPL match here Tuesday.
The trio of Mukesh Kumar (4/33 in 4 overs), Mitchell Starc (1/25 in 4 overs) and Dushmantha Chameera (1/25 in 3 overs) used different kinds of slower deliveries to perfection as LSG huffed and puffed their way past the 150-run mark after being 87/1 at the end of 10 overs.
In the remaining 10 overs, LSG could manage only 72 runs recording their lowest team total of the tournament so far.
Pant’s injured palm also hurt LSG’s chances of propping up their total with the skipper coming in at No.7 for a two-ball duck.
The diminutive Ayush Badoni (36 off 21 balls), who relies more on timing the ball than brute power, did play his part but one doesn’t know if that would be enough considering the depth in the Delhi Capitals batting.
It was another superb show by the DC bowling unit, which has been brilliant throughout the first half of the tournament.
Aiden Markram (52 off 33 balls) attacked well and Mitchell Marsh (45 off 36 balls) for once played second fiddle, allowing the South African to dominate.
The ball was coming nicely onto the bat during the first 10 overs and the bounce was even.
Sensing the nature of the track, the DC bowlers changed their tactic effortlessly and started taking pace off the deliveries while altering the length.
Chameera got Markram with a fuller delivery, which he tried to slash but found the only fielder stationed at deep cover.
But it was Starc, who dealt a telling blow when he got the dangerous-looking Nicholas Pooran (9), who started with a couple of sweeps off Kuldeep Yadav.
Sensing that the West Indian would tonk the length balls bowled at anything above 135 clicks, Starc bowled a slow bouncer and forced him to rush into an ugly pull with both his feet off the ground. The result was an inside edge onto the stumps.
With Pant nursing an injured palm, Abdul Samad (2 off 8 balls) and Marsh were out in quick succession as Mukesh Kumar varied the speed of his deliveries to get two wickets in a single over.
While Badoni played some cheeky strokes, LSG finished well below what would be considered par-score on this Ekana Stadium track.
