Kuldeep and batters guide Delhi to much-needed win
The wrist spinner puts in a brilliant performance as Delhi Capitals chase down 168 against Lucknow
LUCKNOW: A Lucknow Super Giants streak came to an end on Friday as they suffered their first defeat while defending a score of 160 or more. The Delhi Capitals rode on a fine bowling performance to restrict the home team to 167/7 before watching Jake Fraser-mcgurk (55 off 35 balls) and Rishabh Pant (41 off 24) finishing off the chase with 11 balls to spare.
KL Rahul (39 off 22) and Quinton de Kock gave the LSG innings a decent start, putting on 28 runs before the South African was dismissed. The wicket, however, triggered a mini-collapse of sorts that saw Lucknow crash to 94/7.
Kuldeep Yadav, who missed the last three games for DC, showed the value he brings to the table with a fine performance. He removed big hitters Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran off consecutive deliveries to peg back LSG at a vital point in the game. He tossed the ball up for Stoinis, who got a leading edge and Ishant took the catch with ease, whereas Pooran failed to read Yadav’s googly off the very next ball, losing his off stump in the process.
This is precisely why Yadav remains a much-in-demand bowler in T20 cricket. Many batters still don’t read him well and that makes attacking him a decision that is fraught with danger.
It looked like there would be an early end to proceedings but that is when young batter Ayush Badoni put his hand up. The team had shown trust in him despite scores of 1, 8, 0 and 20 in the four previous games. On Friday, he finally found himself in the middle of the park.
He took the time to get his eye in, reaching 8 off 10 balls but then the strokes started flowing and with that LSG got some hope. He found an able partner in Arshad Khan and they put on 73 off 42 balls to give their team a fighting chance. Or at least, that is what they thought.
Capitals were in no mood to play around. They lost opener David Warner early but then Prithvi Shaw (32 off 22), FraserMcgurk and Pant stitched together consecutive stands of 39 (21 balls) and 77 (46 balls) to simply finish the game off for all practical purposes.
Fraser-mcgurk, the 22-yearold Australian who came into the squad as a replacement for Lungi Ngidi, was dropped on 24 by Ravi Bishnoi at covers off Marcus Stoinis and he made full use of that opportunity to get to his fifty in some style. Some of his shots showed why many in Australia feel he has a legitimate chance of making their T20 World Cup team.
“Spent five-six games on the sidelines, (so was) itching to get out there,” said Fraser-mcgurk “Was just more about trying not to swing too hard and lose shape. That’s what I’ve done over the last 12 months.”
LSG knew that they had sold themselves short.
“We were 15-20 short, should’ve capitalised to get 180,” said Rahul after the game. “There was a bit of help for seamers, the odd ball was keeping low and Kuldeep put the brakes on our batting group.”
Pant and DC were relieved by the result which came on the back of two big defeats (against KKR and MI).
“Told the boys we need to think like champions, keep fighting hard,” said Pant at the end of the match. “There have been phases where we’ve not been upto the mark with the ball but some individuals have to take responsibility. We have to stick together as a team.
“The problem (was) we had is so many injuries in the camp. With 10 teams, it is difficult to get players. We can either make an excuse or learn.”
And learn they clearly did. Brief scores: LSG 167/7 (A Badoni 55*; K Yadav 3/20). DC 170/4 in 18.1 overs (J FraserMcgurk 55, R Pant 41; R Bishnoi 2/25). DC won by 6 wickets.