Quinton de Kock scored a 52-ball 80 as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) handed Delhi Capitals (DC) a 6-wicket thrashing at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, winning the Match No 15 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 tournament in a comprehensive manner.
The victory on Thursday night in Navi Mumbai powered the Lucknow Super Giants to the second spot in the IPL 2022 points table whereas Delhi Capitals, who are in a desperate search of their maiden title win, were pushed to the 7th spot with only 1 win to show from 3 matches that they have played.
After restricting Delhi Capitals to a score of 149/3 in their 20 overs despite the best efforts from their Rishabh Pant, middle order batsman Sarfaraz Khan and a fine half-century from their opening batter Prithvi Shaw, Lucknow Super Giants finished at 155/4 from 19.4 overs, winning the contest by 6 wickets and 2 balls to spare.
The start of the contest, however, began on a positive note for the Delhi Capitals whose opener Prithvi Shaw went hard against the Lucknow bowlers. The right-handed opening batsman took charge of scoring runs all by himself, cracked 9 boundaries and 2 sixes to make 61 from 34 balls while his senior opening partner David Warner happily played the second fiddle.
Warner was dismissed for 4 whereas Rovman Powell could manage only 3 as Delhi were left needing their batsmen to stitch partnership in the middle.
They got exactly that with Delhi captain Rishabh Pant teaming up with Sarfaraz Khan to take their side ahead, adding an unbeaten 75 runs from only 57 balls for the fourth wicket.
The Lucknow Super Giants bowlers indeed commanded respect for their performance on Thursday night. They managed to restrict Delhi to a total which was expected to be challenging for their batsmen but not insurmountable.
Lucknow Super Giants were off to a strong start when their openers captain KL Rahul and wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock added 73 runs from 9.4 overs. While Rahul perished soon, after scoring 24 from 25 balls with the help of one six and a four, de Kock hammered 9 fours and 2 sixes to make a 52-ball 80.
Apart from de Kock, Lucknow also saw valuable performances coming from their lower middle order as Deepak Hooda made 11, Krunal Pandya made 19 and Ayush Badoni remained unbeaten on 10 from only three balls having hit one boundary and a 6 to finish off the game in the 20th over.
Delhi Capitals will next face the dangerous Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 10 whereas Lucknow Super Giants will be taking on Rajasthan Royals, who have been able to bring out their best right at the start of this tournament.