KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) took on Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 26th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium Ekana, Lucknow. on Friday, April 12.
Lucknow Super Giants won the toss and opted to bat first in the match. They made a forced change in the playing XI as Mayank Yadav was unfit and was replaced by Arshad Khan. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals received a big boost with the return of Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar. Rishabh Pant & Co. also presented the debut cap to youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Batting first, Lucknow Super Giants were extremely poor with the bat and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The batsmen could not cope with the threat of Khaleel Ahmed and the return of Kuldeep Yadav.
Quinton de Kock (19), Devdutt Padikkal (3), Marcus Stoinis (8) and Nicholas Pooran (0) failed miserably and allowed Delhi Capitals to take control of the match.
LSG captain KL Rahul was the only top-order batsman to show any fight and contributed 39 significant runs. After a batting failure, the home team was forced to bring in Deepak Hooda as an impact player, but he too failed and scored only 10 runs.
In the end, Ayush Badoni showed batting brilliance and formed an excellent 73-run partnership with Arshad Khan, which was the highest 8th-wicket partnership in IPL history. LSG ended up posting 167/7 on the board.
Chasing the target in the match, David Warner got out in an unfortunate manner but his opening partner Prithvi Shaw did an absolutely marvelous job of scoring 32 runs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk and Rishabh Pant followed up with 55 and 41 runs respectively to take Delhi Capitals (DC) closer to victory, while Shai Hope and Tristan Stubbs did the rest of the work as DC defeated LSG by 6 wickets.
If I want to be harsh, I think we were 15-20 runs short – KL Rahul
At the post-match presentation ceremony, LSG captain KL Rahul said they were 15-20 runs short and credited DC player Kuldeep Yadav for doing a brilliant job in the match. KL Rahul also praised Delhi Capitals debutant Jake Fraser-McGurk for an impressive batting display. KL Rahul stated:
“If I want to be harsh, I think we were 15-20 runs short, we had a good start, we could have capitalized and got 180. There was a little help for the seamers, some ball stayed low. Kuldeep made his use (and got those wickets. When the new guys come in, it’s quite unknown for us. He (Jake Fraser-McGurk) hit the ball well, thanks to him. We always go in with the same mentality. I want to get to the right areas.”
KL Rahul added that they managed to remove David Warner in the powerplay but the partnership between Pant and McGurk took the game away from them. KL Rahul stated:
“We got Warner in the powerplay, got a couple of wickets after the powerplay. The set batsmen, Pant and McGurk, took the game away from us after that dropped catch. We travel tomorrow and play a game in the afternoon (the Sunday).This is how “According to the calendar, you need to show up, it could be difficult during Indian summers.”
KL Rahul further criticized Nicholas Pooran, who fell to Kuldeep Yadav in the match, and said that the explosive batsman could have put pressure on the opposing team. KL Rahul said:
“In hindsight, you can always wonder what you could have done differently. There wasn’t much effect after Axar overtook, so I thought Pooran could have put some pressure on the opponent, if he had been prepared. It would have been dangerous, but you have to give him Credit to Kuldeep for getting him out of there.
In the end, KL Rahul gave an update on bowling sensation Mayank Yadav, saying that the pacer feels good enough to play but they want to be cautious. KL Rahul stated:
“He (Mayank Yadav) feels good, looks good, but we don’t want to rush him. We need to protect his body, he is eager to go. We need to make sure he is 100 per cent (fit) before we come back.”