Youngster Mohsin Khan’s excellent spell of 4 for 16 turned out to be the difference as Lucknow Super Giants moved to 2nd in the table condemning Delhi Capitals to their 5th loss in the IPL. While Lucknow is now sitting pretty on 14 points almost assured of a playoff spot, Delhi needs to win at least 4 of their next 5 games to join them in the final 4.
Mohsin accounted for the dangerous David Warner, explosive Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, big-hitting Rovman Powell, and the dangerous Shardul Thakur in a top-class 4 overs spell that pretty much assured victory to Lucknow. Few lusty blows from Axar Patel in the company of Kuldeep Yadav did reduce the margin of defeat for Delhi to just 6 runs, but Lucknow pretty much clinched the win when Mohsin dismissed a rampaging Powell for 35 off 21 balls.
Chasing a mammoth 196 for the win, Delhi didn’t get off to the best of starts losing their 2 explosive openers Prithvi Shaw and David Warner within the first 3 overs for just 13. However, World T20 hero Mitchell Marsh in the company of skipper Rishabh Pant brought the chase back on track with a breathtaking 60 runs partnership off just 25 balls.
Once Marsh was dismissed by Gowtham, followed quickly by Lalit Yadav’s dismissal by Ravi Bishnoi, Delhi needed Rishabh Pant or Rovman Powell to see them through but both of them were dismissed by Mohsin Khan after they threatened to take the game away from Lucknow.
KL Rahul continues his IPL love affair
Earlier in the day, Lucknow Super Giants put up an impressive 195 on the board in their 20 overs thanks to their skipper KL Rahul. He continued his impressive form in the IPL with 51 balls 77 and in the company of Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda, guided Lucknow to a huge first innings score.
Lucknow needs just 1 more win in their last 4 games to clinch the playoff spot in their first-ever season, to join fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans. They will have a chance to do that on Saturday against a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders while Delhi will try to get their campaign back on track against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
