Advertisement

Ashutosh heroics enable Delhi to win thriller against Super Giants

football24 March 2025 18:37| © SuperSport
Share

A stunning unbeaten 66 in 31 balls from Ashutosh Sharma enabled the Delhi Capitals to come back from the dead to beat the Lucknow Super Giants by one wicket with three balls to spare in a thrilling Tata IPL clash at Visakhapatnam on Monday night.

Seemingly out of contention after a dreadful power play – seven for three in the second over and 65 for five in 6.4 overs – Tristan Stubbs (34 off 22 balls), Vipraj Nigam (39 off 15) and finally a nerveless Ashutosh somehow got Delhi home when it seemed far more likely that the Super Giants would prevail.

For Rishabh Pant, captaining the Super Giants after an IPL career spent playing for Delhi, it was a nightmare game.

The left-hander was dismissed for a six-ball duck and then missed a key stumping off the first ball of the final over which would have given his team victory.

But then Ashutosh, needing five off the remaining four balls from spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, struck a perfect straight drive over the sightscreen to take his team home.

In an extraordinary encounter, the narrative curve of the two innings couldn’t have been more different.

The Super Giants, put in by Delhi, raced to 161-2 in the 14th over before being pegged back to finally total a still-challenging 209-8.

Delhi, by contrast, seemed out of it after a brainless start with Jake Fraser-McGurk and Sameer Rizvi giving their wickets away in the first couple of overs.

But after that, although wickets continued to fall, the likes of Stubbs and Axar Patel gradually helped to build momentum for two key partnerships: that of 48 in 35 balls between Stubbs and Ashutosh, and then a stunning liaison of 55 off 22 balls between Ashutosh and Vipraj Nigam (39 off 15) that took Delhi closer to a victory that few could have predicted.

STARC SHINES

Earlier, the Super Giants were bolstered by thrilling half-centuries from Mitchell Marsh (72 off 36 balls, including 6x4s and 6x6s) and Nicholas Pooran, and it looked as though they would reach the 250-mark at one stage.

The pair featured in a second-wicket partnership of 87 in 42 balls after a brisk opening of 46 in 28 balls between the Aussie and South Africa’s Aiden Markram.

But, after reaching 161 for two halfway through the 14th over, the Capitals reined the Super Giants in, thanks to a superb spell from left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and some explosive fast bowling from Mitchell Starc.

The rangy left-arm paceman went for 28 off his first two overs, but came back in style to shatter the stumps of Pooran for a superb 75 off 30 balls (6x4s, 7x6s) when the West Indian looked set for a century.

He then finished the innings off by cleaning up the tail to take 3-42.

But the outstanding bowling performance was that of Kuldeep who claimed the wickets of Pant and Ayush Badoni for just 20 runs in his four overs.

He, more than anyone, strangled the Super Giants’ innings when they looked set for a truly commanding total.

South Africa’s David Miller struggled for fluency initially, but finished in style with two consecutive sixes to finish unbeaten on 27 in 19 balls and take his team past the 200-mark.

In the end, it wasn’t enough, thanks to Ashutosh’s heroics.

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), David Miller, Ayush Badoni, Mitchell Marsh, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Nicholas Pooran, Shahbaz Ahmed, Aiden Markram, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi

Delhi Capitals: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar

Advertisement