Dominant Delhi lays Lucknow low, beats hosts by 8 wickets

Smart bowling by the trio of Mukesh Kumar (4/33), Starc (1/25) and Chameera (1/25 in 3 overs) helps Delhi Capitals restrict Lucknow to a below-par score of 159/6

Lucknow: Delhi Capitals slowly but surely inched closer towards play-off qualification, annihilating Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets in an IPL match here on Tuesday.

The win was powered by a near-perfect performance from their pace unit, aided by inexplicable tactics from rival captain Rishabh Pant.

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The trio of Mukesh Kumar (4/33), Mitchell Starc (1/25) and Dushmantha Chameera (1/25 in 3 overs) used slower deliveries smartly as LSG could only manage a below-par 159/6 after being 87/1 at the halfway mark.

In the back-10, LSG could manage only 72 runs, recording their lowest team total of the tournament so far.

It made matters only worse that Pant, with his bandaged right palm, came in at No. 7 and was dismissed for a two-ball duck, while Abdul Samad wasted deliveries like a millionaire up the order.

The match as a contest was over at half-time only.

Young opener Abhishek Porel (51 off 36) set the tone before KL Rahul (57 not out off 42) and Axar Patel (34 not out off 20) saw DC home with 13 balls to spare, sealing their sixth win in eight games.

With Sanjiv Goenka in the stands, it couldn’t have been sweeter for Rahul, whose third fifty of the season was a nice little statement with willow, having endured the LSG owner’s public wrath during a game last season.

Pant’s bowling changes were unimaginative and persisted with Ravi Bishnoi, who has become a one-trick pony with only googly as his wicket-taking delivery isn’t helping his cause either.

A couple of more wins in the next six games will take DC to 16 points, considered a magic figure for play-off qualifications.

The wicket didn’t have any demons, but LSG, in terms of strategy, execution and intent, had their worst game of the season and skipper Pant, the record Rs 27-crore recruit, didn’t seem to be there.

There were misfields, sitters being dropped with LSG and its skipper cutting a sorry picture.

At the toss, he said his injury isn’t really serious but sending Samad and Ayush Badoni before himself left everyone perplexed whether he is playing at a fitness level below 100 per cent.

Despite the palm injury, he also kept wickets.

The ball was coming nicely onto the bat during the first 10 overs, and the bounce was even as 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.

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.

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. He also got the prized wicket of Pant with the final ball of the LSG innings.

While Badoni played some cheeky strokes, LSG always looked like the team that would come second best in this encounter. Now, DC have beaten LSG twice in this game.