IPL: Ashutosh Sharma impact takes DC home against LSG
The batter smashed an unbeaten 66 off 31 balls to drag a shaky Capitals to a one-wicket win in Visakhapatnam
New Delhi: It isn’t often that a Mitchell Marsh-Nicholas Pooran batting show goes to vain. However, Ashutosh Sharma provided the real impact, ensuring it was just the night to dull their fireworks. Sharma’s unbeaten 31-ball 66 ensured Delhi Capitals had a night to remember, against the odds, leading them to a one-wicket victory with three balls to spare against Lucknow Super Giants.
The Marsh (72)-Pooran (75) blitz got LSG off to a great going, but they were pulled back with six of the last seven batters contributing 13 runs in all as they were restricted to 2019/8 in the match played in Visakhapatnam, DC’s second home venue.
Chasing 210, Capitals were rocked early by Shardul Thakur (2/19) and M Siddharth (2/39), leaving them reeling at 7/3. It was hard to give them a chance at that stage, but Faf du Plessis (29) and Axar Patel (22) launched a much-needed counterattack to wrest back some momentum and steady the innings.
Just as the 43-run partnership started to flourish, leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi (2/31) picked up his first IPL wicket, dismissing Axar for 22 in the sixth over. That halted Delhi’s recovery, putting LSG back in command as they continued to apply pressure.
But despite it all, team mentor Kevin Pietersen was confident of the rest of the batting, particularly heaping praise on Ashutosh during the mid-innings interview with the broadcaster. It was no surprise that he was the most elated in the dugout when the 26-year-old finished the job in the end.
Ashutosh, brought in as Impact Player, first stitched a vital 55-run partnership with Vipraj Nigam (39), who played an absolute blinder during his 15-ball stay. Ashutosh then combined with Kuldeep Yadav (5) and Mohit Sharma (1*) to pull off the heist.
LSG implode after Marsh-Pooran show
In the first innings, Visakhapatnam was bracing for excessive heat on Monday, but instead, the crowd witnessed a storm of sixes. While opener Marsh (72-36b, 6x4, 6x6) set the tone and No.3 Pooran’s fireworks (75 - 30 b, 6x4, 7x6) later in the innings built on it, the contest had plenty of action from the outset.
Marsh took on Mitchell Starc (3/42) with an explosive start, dispatching him for boundaries. While Starc struggled to contain his Australian team-mate, DC captain Axar Patel proved to be the Capitals’ saving grace at the other end, keeping things tight, stifling the flow of runs.
The real breakthrough came from spinner Nigam (1/35) on debut as he struck gold in his very first over, sending Aiden Markram back for 15. But just when it seemed they were clawing their way back into the game, Marsh had the final say in the Powerplay.
Taking on Mukesh Kumar (1/22) in the last over of fielding restrictions, he unleashed a flurry of big hits, ensuring that Delhi’s early breakthroughs did little to slow down the scoring rate.
Stitching an 87-run partnership with Marsh, Pooran then produced a breathtaking display of power-hitting, plundering 28 runs off an over off Tristan Stubbs. Pooran launched into a sequence of brutal hitting, smashing four consecutive sixes and a boundary to race to 70 off just 27 deliveries.
Just as Pooran’s onslaught put Lucknow in control, Kuldeep Yadav – the pick of the bowlers taking 2/20 – turned the tide with a brilliant over. Bowling against his former captain, he dismissed Rishabh Pant for a six-ball duck. Yadav, who has now removed Pant three times in five IPL meetings, conceded just one run in the over, tightening the screws.
Starc followed it up with another crucial blow, rattling Pooran’s stumps with a searing delivery as he attempted a slog. Pooran was capable of putting on a late-innings carnage but his wicket slowed down things for LSG.
Capitals had managed to rein in Super Giants to 209/8 after the latter were cruising at 133/1 in the 12th over and looked set to post over 240-250 and eventually, that proved to be decisive.
