Lucknow: Delhi Capitals inched closer towards playoffs 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.
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 next 10 overs, 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 too many deliveries up the order.
Chasing the target, DC’s 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. There were misfields, sitters being dropped with LSG and their skipper cutting a sorry picture. The wicket didn’t have any demons but LSG, in terms of strategy, execution and intent, had their worst game of the season
A couple of more wins in the next six games will take DC to 16 points, considered magic figure for playoff qualifications.
Brief scores: LSG: 159/6 in 20 overs (Markram 52, Marsh 45; Mukesh 4/33); DC: 161/2 in 17.5 overs (Porel 51, Rahul 57*; Markram 2/30).