Mumbai: Quinton de Kock's 80 off 52 balls powered Lucknow Super Giants to victory by 6 wickets against Delhi Capitals in the IPL match at Dr DY Patil Stadium here on Thursday.
Chasing a below-par target of 150, De Kock and KL Rahul (24 off 25) gave a rollicking start to Lucknow by putting on 73 runs for the first wicket in 9.3 overs.
During this power-packed stand, De Kock challenged compatriot Anrich Nortje and put to blades for 4 boundaries in a single over.
The South African was merciless as he welcomed him with a cut through extra cover and then thumped straight past him in the next delivery. De Kock again punched past the bowler for the second time for yet another boundary in the fourth ball. The fifth one he pulled over deep square leg with a lot of spunk to a short-pitched delivery.
Right from the word go, Lucknow were always in the run chase as their batters hardly had any pressure on them. But Delhi pacers Mustafizur Rahman and Shardul Thakur brought the game alive in 17th and 18th over.
Seasoned campaigner Krunal Pandya (19 not out off 14) held his nerves and smoked a huge six off Mustafizur's penultimate over and then the young gun Ayush Badoni (10 not out off 3) sealed the game with an exquisite strike in the last over. Keeping his composure intact, Gautam Gambhir's darling finished the game in style.
They needed early breakthroughs, but did not happen, resulting in playing catchup games. Rahul perished as Kuldeep Yadav picked up his first wicket of the match for Delhi. Evin Lewis (5) lost his wicket to Lalit Yadav.
Just when it appeared De Kock would smash his way to a century, he fell after playing a well-controlled knock to Kuldeep, getting his second wicket. Shardul dismissed Hooda (11 off 13) in the final over.
Earlier, Ayush Badoni's magnificent fifty, and Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan's recovery from middle overs onwards was not enough for Delhi as Lucknow restricted them to 149 for 3.
Pant and Sarfaraz 75 off 57 for the fourth wicket following the collapse in the middle ensured Delhi bowlers had a decent score to defend after it appeared that they would manage a lot less.
Shaw was in a different zone in the Powerplay as he smoked Lucknow bowlers all round the park, but Lucknow spinners came back strongly and changed the complexion of the game post-powerplay.
Looking in great touch, Shaw got Delhi off to a good star. He hit a quickfire 61 off 34 balls that was studded with 9 boundaries and 2 sixes, before he departed. This was his first fifty this season. Earlier, he had scored 38 runs against Mumbai Indians and 10 against Gujarat Titans.
Shaw cut loose in the second over. He smacked two fours off Krishnappa Gautam and then he thumped Jason Holder, sending out a clear message that he was unstoppable tonight. In Avesh Khan's over, he smashed three boundaries in a row, which saw Delhi reaching 50 in 5.4 overs, and David Warner had only 3 runs in this. In the three matches so far, Shaw has scored 109 runs, indicating his good form.
Once Gowtham sent Shaw back into the hut, Delhi lost the momentum. Warner, who was watching everything from the other end when Shaw was going berserk, cut one to backward point and then Rovman Powell (3) fell cheaply.
Pant (39 not out off 36) could not get going. At one stage he just made 6 off 17 balls, but made amends by garnering 18 runs in an over of Andrew Tye. This flurry of runs was there to end as Lucknow gave away just 19 runs off the last 3 overs with Holder and Avesh bowling superbly.
Lucknow spinners choked Delhi in the middle and then the pacers finished it off well. (UNI)
