New Delhi, Apr 23: Opener Abishek Porel and KL Rahul struck half centuries and shared a 69-run partnership as Delhi Capitals thrashed Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday.
Chasing 160 for victory, Porel scored 51 off 36 balls, while in-form Rahul struck an unbeaten 57 (42 balls) to make it a one-sided contest, as DC completed the task in 17.5 overs. Skipper Axar Patel made 34 not out off 20 balls.
Rahul also completed 5,000 runs in IPL on way to his half-century.
Earlier, DC bowlers, especially Mukesh Kumar (4/33) and Mitchell Starc (1/25), restricted LSG to 159/6.
LSG opener Aiden Markram scored 52 and Mitchell Marsh too made a quick 45 but DC pacers used clever variations to restrict the host to a below-par total.
Mukesh Kumar, Player of the Match: Feels really good. Really enjoyed bowling on this wicket. Before bowling my second over, I had a chat with the other bowlers and they told me that it is stopping a bit so I tried to mix it up. I always communicate with the skipper regarding my plans, whether I am bowling slower balls or yorkers. Mitchell Marsh wicket was really crucial, and picking up his wicket was really key for the team around that time. I was trying to perform like this from the start, but it wasn’t happening and I would like to take this form going forward.
Axar Patel | DC skipper: The way we started with the ball, we didn’t take wickets but we were in control of the game. Once we picked up 2 quick wickets, we got the momentum and all the bowlers did well to restrict them under 160. I have a slight injury which is why I haven’t been bowling much so far and today I felt in good rhythm and bowled up front. I was also looking at the match-ups (whenever I made a bowling change) and that is how I rotated my bowlers and all of them responded very well. I always play according to my strengths whenever I walk out to bat, doesn’t matter which position I am batting, and I have been getting success whenever I tried to line-up a bowler, so feeling good. We can improve our fielding a bit. (roughly translated from Hindi). The drop chances will be crucial during crunch games going ahead.
Rishabh Pant | LSG captain: We knew we were 20 runs short. In Lucknow, toss played a big part. Whoever is bowling first, they get a lot of help from the wicket. We just had to stay back, we just couldn’t get it away. It always happens in Lucknow, in the second innings, the wicket gets better and batter to bat on, that’s how the game goes and you can’t be complaining. Yes, toss is playing a huge part here, but as a team, we are not looking for excuses. That is one idea why we are impacting Ayush, to get Mayank some game time, just trying to find ways to get him early in the season because it’s already halfway around. He came from NCA now, just trying to fit him in. (On him batting down the order today) Idea was to like capitalize. We sent Samad to capitalize on a wicket like that. After that Miller came in and we just really got stuck in the wicket. Eventually, these are the things we got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward. (On the upcoming matches away from home) I haven’t thought about anything as of now, just finished the match, we are gonna regroup, realign and refocus again. Just going to be playing the next match from a fresh start.