Ashutosh Sharma defies imagination, pulls off a heist from 20 off 20 to 66 off 31 in crazy IPL thriller to pin LSG
Ashutosh Sharma slammed an unbeaten 66 runs off 31 balls and finished the match with a six to seal the win for Delhi Capitals by one wicket in 210-run chase.
Ashutosh Sharma pulled off a heist in Visakhapatnam as Delhi Capitals snatched a win from the jaws of defeat against Lucknow Super Giants at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Vizag. Ashutosh, who grabbed the limelight in IPL last year while playing for Punjab Kings, shifted his bases to Delhi this season and made an instant impact by helping them start the campaign with a win. The 26-year-old batter slammed an unbeaten 66 runs off 31 balls and finished the match with a six to seal the win for Delhi Capitals by one wicket in the 210-run chase.
He stood tall when things were not going Delhi's way and decided to shift gears in the 16th over. He didn't stop after that and took his team over the line on his own despite losing partners at regular intervals from the other end. He was 20 from 20 deliveries at the end of the 15th over, and his next 46 runs came from just 11 deliveries as he just blew away Lucknow Super Giants in his carnage.
Ashutosh came out as Delhi's Impact Substitute in place of Mukesh Kumar and just blew away Lucknow, who looked comfortable getting two points at that stage of the game. His unbeaten 66-run knock was embellished with five sixes and as many fours.
Delhi were five down for just 65 when Ashutosh joined Tristan Stubbs in the middle and started rebuilding the innings, but the Proteas batter was dismissed for 34, and odds turned back in LSG's favour.
The 55-run partnership between Ashutosh and debutant Vipraj Nigam gave Delhi a fitting chance in the mammoth chase. Nigam slammed 39 runs off 15 balls to make a crucial impact in the game.
Ashutosh Sharma gets it done for DC
It was the 18th over of the game when the momentum started shifting in Delhi's favour as Ashutosh started putting on display of some clean ball striking. He smashed Ravi Bishnoi for a couple of sixes and a four on the last three balls of the 18th over, as 22 runs were left for the last two overs.
In the penultimate over, he pushed Kuldeep Yadav to take a single at any cost to get him back on strike. Kuldeep hit a four on the first ball to get a sigh of relief. But Ashutosh pushed him to change strike and ran towards the striker's end. Kuldeep failed to get a bat on it and ended up getting run out. However, it helped the 26-year-old get back on strike. He smashed 12 runs off the last three balls which included a six and a four.
The equation was 6 off the last over, but Mohit Sharma was the one who had to face the first ball, and he survived a stumping. He held his nerves after that and took a single on the second ball to get Ashutosh back on strike once again. Shahbaz Ahmed pitched it a tad full and it was exactly was Ashutosh wanted as he smashed it straight down the ground for a maximum to seal the win for Delhi Capitals with three balls to spare.
