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Mayers, Wood blow Delhi Capitals away

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Lucknow Super Giants coasted to a clinical win at the Ekana stadium, courtesy an explosive batting performance by the Caribbean duo of Nicolas Pooran and Kyle Mayers, and a breathtaking display of express pace from Mark Wood. This was the first game for both the sides, and got the KL Rahul-led LSG on the board, starting off their campaign on a positive note.

Mayers leads a surge after quiet powerplay

The Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first on a wicket with green patches and red soil, with the intention of “knowing what to chase” according to Delhi skipper David Warner. It was a sedate powerplay, where the Indian pace trio kept LSG quiet and even picked up the wicket of KL Rahul (caught in the deep off Sakaria), and Khaleel dropped a sitter off Mayers’ bat. This would prove to be a costly drop, as Mayers took apart the DC bowling and clubbed 73 off 38 balls. LSG made a bit of a comeback, picking up Hooda and Mayers in quick succession, slowing the scoring rate in the middle overs.

Finishing flourish feat. Pooran and Badoni

However, Nicolas Pooran’s cameo, with the aid of Ayush Badoni and a last-ball six from impact player Krishnappa Gowtham, ensured 66 runs came off the final 5 overs, giving LSG the momentum going into the second innings. Sakaria, who started his spell well, ended up leaking 53 runs in his quota, including 22 runs in an expensive final over. Aman Khan replaced Khaleel Ahmed as LSG’s impact player after the 19th over, and Krishnappa Gowtham replaced Ayush Badoni as LSG impact player after the latter lost his wicket off the penultimate ball of the innings. Gowtham made an immediate impact, smashing his first and only ball for six, leaving Sakaria’s figures in tatters.

A short-lived flier that ended in massacre

In response, the DC openers Warner and Shaw got off to a flier, and took a liking to Jaydev Unadkat before Mark Wood hit the top of Prithvi Shaw’s off-stump with a 147.3kmph corker, and knocked over Mitchell Marsh with a 147.8kmph fireball. He then got Sarfaraz caught behind off a free-hit in a game-changing spell for LSG. Wood eventually bounced him out in his second over, putting a stopper on DC’s scoring until Rilee Rossouw picked Ravi Bishnoi apart, hammering him for 17 runs in the 10th over, with the required rate almost 12 for the final 10 overs.

A meek surrender results in a dull finish

Rilee Rossouw soon fell to Bishnoi, as did Rovman Powell, bringing the equation down to 84 off 30, and suddenly, Warner’s anchor approach looked questionable as he was joined by Axar Patel, the last recognized batter. Avesh Khan eventually got Warner to hole out at the long-on boundary to extinguish DC’s last hope. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel hung around, the latter striking a few blows, but it was all futile in the end. Wood came back to pick up two wickets in his final over, making it a five-wicket haul in his first appearance for LSG, as the franchise announced their arrival in this tournament with a roaring 50-run win.

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 193/6 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 73, Nicolan Pooran 36, Khaleel Ahmed 2-30) beat Delhi Capitals 143/9 in 20 overs (David Warner 56, Rilee Rossouw 30, Mark Wood 5-14) by 50 runs

What next?

An upbeat LSG travel to Chennai to play CSK on Monday, April 3. The Delhi Capitals will get a boost as they travel back to their own den, playing defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Kotla on Tuesday, April 4.

© Cricbuzz

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