Lucknow edge Delhi, Dhoni-led Chennai beat Hyderabad
Skipper KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda smashed half-centuries to help Lucknow Super Giants jump to second in the Indian Premier League with a narrow win over Delhi Capitals on Sunday.
Rahul, who hit 77, and Hooda, who smashed 52, put on 95 for the second wicket as Lucknow finished on 195 for three ater electing to bat first on another hot day in Mumbai.
Luck now fast bow le rm oh sin khan then returned figures of 4-16 including key wickets of David Warner (3), skipper Rishabh Pant (44) and Rovman Powell (35) to keep down Delhi to 189-7 and win by six runs.
Delhi number seven Axar Patel attempted to pull off the chase with his unbeaten 42 off 24 balls but Marcus Stoinis defended 21 runs in the final over as Lucknow took their place behind fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans in the 10-team IPL table.
New franchises gujarat and luck now paid more than $1.6 billion combined to make their entry in the money-spinning Indian Premier League.
Mohsin, an up-and-coming let-arm quick from the north Indian state of Utar Pradesh, stood out ater he got Warner caught at mid-wicket and later bowled Pant to deny the let-handed bater his fity.
Mitchell Marsh hit a 20-ball 37 but fell caught behind off Krishnappa Gowtham and walked back only for the ultra-edge technology to suggest no spike when the ball passed the bat.
Mohsin then took down the dangerous Powell and Shardul Thakur in his final over to dent Delhi’s hope sofa chase and was named man of the match.
Earlier the in-form Rahul, who has amassed 451 runs including two centuries in 10 matches, registered his fourth score of 50 plus runs to take the atack to the opposition bowlers.
Unheralded Utar Pradesh let-arm pacer Mohsin Khan put up an exceptional bowling performance as Lucknow beat Delhi by six runs, thereby taking a giant stride towards qualifying for the IPL play-offs
He hit four fours and five sixes in his 51-ball knock. Hooda reached his fity in 32 balls but soon fell to Thakur, who took three wickets, in the next over.
Bowlers did manage to check Lucknow, who at one stage looked like crossing 200, in the final five overs but the total proved just enough for the Delhi baters.
Meanwhile, openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway put on this season’s best stand of 182 to set up a comfortable win for holders Chennai Super Kings who had Mahendra Singh Dhoni back as IPL captain.
Four-time winners Chennai beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 13 runs ater they defended 202 for two in the second match of the day in Pune.
Dhoni, who gave up the captaincy ahead of this Indian Premier League, accepted the job back on Saturday ater Ravindra Jadeja stepped down following the team’s six losses from eight games.
The 40- year-old legendary wicketkeeper-bater received a rousing welcome when he walked out to toss with Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson who put Chennai in to bat.
Gaikwad, who made 99, and the let-handed Conway, who hit an unbeaten 85, guided Chennai to a big total ater their marathon partnership frustrated the opposition bowlers.
Speedster Umran Malik bowled the fastest ball of the season at 154 km/h (95.6 mph) to Gaikwad who got it away for a boundary down the ground.
Umran, who returned figures of 5-25 in his previous match, hit the mark again with a yorker to Dhoni. The previous fastest was 153.9 km/h bowled by Gujarat Titans’ New Zealand import Lockie Ferguson. Gaikwad kept up the atack and brough tup his fity with a boundary off Malik but missed out on a ton when he gave away a catch to point of T Natarajan. He hit six sixes in his 57-ball knock.
Hyderabad bowlers including um ran came back to check the flow of runs in the final few overs but Conway finished with two fours and a single to get Chennai past 200.
In reply, Hyderabad managed 189-6 despite Nicholas Pooran’s unbeaten 33-ball 64.
Skipper Kane Williamson, who made 47, and Abhishek Sharma got Hyderabad off to a brisk start with 52 off the first five overs before Mukesh Choudhary broke through with twin strikes on successive balls. Choudhary, a let-arm medium pace bowler, finished with figures of 4-46 with 24 coming of his last over. Williamson fell lbw to Dwaine Pretorius as he missed a big heave in an atempt to accelerate the scoring.
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The world’s most valuable cricket tournament has expanded to 10 teams this year with new franchises Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants paying more than $1.6 billion combined to make their entry.