Brilliant 80-run knock by Quinton de Kock and quick 10 runs by Ayush Badoni, guided Lucknow Super Giants to a victory by 6 wickets in a last-over thriller against Delhi Capitals, here at Dr DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Chasing 150, Lucknow had an amazing start as the openers, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock took their side across the 50-run mark in just 7 overs. The duo stitched a brilliant partnership of 70 runs and provided Lucknow with great momentum. Delhi Capitals finally took a sigh of relief when Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Rahul, who got caught by Prithvi Shaw, after scoring 24 runs, with the team’s total at 73/1 in the 10th over. De Kock was then joined by Evin Lewis and kept the scoreboard moving for Lucknow.
De Kock scored his half-century in 36 balls, which put Delhi under heavy pressure. It was then Lalit Yadav, who dismissed Lewis in the 13th over after he scored 5 runs. Deepak Hooda came to the crease to join De Kock, who anchored the innings and kept on thrashing Delhi bowlers at regular intervals.
Kuldeep Yadav struck back again and finally ended the reign of de Kock, who departed after playing a blistering knock of 80 runs off 52 balls, with the team’s total at 122/3 in the 16th over. Hooda was then joined by Krunal Pandya.
Delhi finally saw a ray of hope when Shardul Thakur conceded only 5 runs in the 18th over and brought his side back into the game. But it was Krunal Pandya, who sent a ball for a six and scored 14 runs in the 19th over, which was bowled by Mustafizur Rahman.
Shardul once again came as a saviour for his side and removed Hooda on the first delivery of the final over. Later, Ayush Badoni came to the crease and scored 10 runs off 3 balls and took his side to the victory by 6 wickets and two balls to spare.
Earlier, a brilliant knock of 61 runs by Prithvi Shaw and the 75-run partnership of skipper Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan provided Delhi Capital with a respectable total of 149/3.
For Lucknow, Ravi Bishnoi scalped two wickets, while Krishnappa Gowtham settled with one wicket to his name.
Brief score: Delhi Capitals 149/3 (Rishabh Pant 39*, Sarfaraz Khan 36*; Ravi Bishnoi 2-22) vs Lucknow Super Giants 155/4 (Quinton de Kock 80, KL Rahul 24; Kuldeep Yadav 2/31).