DC still hanging in there!
Delhi Capitals signed off from the group stage with a 19-run win against Lucknow Super Giants in Delhi, and kept themselves in contention for a top-four finish, even if it is just mathematically. LSG, with one more game left against Mumbai Indians, aren't knocked out either just yet, but both teams will have to depend on other results going massively their way to make the top four.
From 44 for 4 in a chase of 209, LSG took the contest to the last over thanks to Nicholas Pooran's 61 and Arshad Khan's unbeaten 58 at No.8 . However, Rasikh Salam defended 20 off the final six to hand DC their seventh victory of IPL 2024. On a high-scoring surface, DC had to post 200 or above to have a shot at collecting two points. After being asked to bat, Abishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs shone with fifties to power DC to 208 for 4. With the ball, Ishant Sharma ripped through LSG early with three wickets and even though Pooran and Arshad tried their best, LSG kept losing wickets at the other end to eventually fall short.
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Hang on, we have a game!
Just when we thought LSG had lost the plot, Arshad Khan - coming in at No.8 - has ramped up a 25-ball fifty to bring down the equation to 29 off 12 balls. Can he pull off an extraordinary chase here?
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Pooran's counter-attacking fifty comes to an end
LSG are six down in chase of 209. Pooran fell for Mukesh's short slower ball, angling away, with the batter slicing it from outside off to find Axar at extra cover.
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Should Pooran bat up the order?
Despite being five down, LSG are still in the game thanks to Nicholas Pooran's counter-attacking fifty. He hit Axar Patel for 4, 6, 4, 6 just after the left-arm spinner had removed Marcus Stoinis off his first ball. Pooran hasn't stopped since that over, smashing three more fours and two more sixes. This included a reverse sweep over extra cover for a six off Kuldeep Yadav's bowling. Insane hitting.
At the halfway stage, LSG are 97 for 5. Time to re-fill your popcorn, people. Entertainment loading...
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Ishant rips through LSG
Ishant Sharma, the Impact Player, had Virat Kohli in the previous game. And today, the Delhi-born pacer removed LSG's big guns - Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda in his first three overs to leave LSG reeling at 44 for 4 in no time. Can DC also stop the big-hitting Pooran? We'll see.
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Stubbs powers DC past 200
What an innings that was from Stubbs! His late onslaught of 57* off 25 balls has lifted DC to 208 for 4, with the hosts scoring 72 off the last five overs. After the early wicket of Fraser-McGurk, Porel and Hope stitched a 92-run stand for the second wicket. LSG's spinners then kept DC quiet in the middle overs. However, Pant's quickfire 33 and Stubbs' unbeaten blitz have taken DC to a par total at the Arun Jaitely Stadium. Our statsman Sampath tells me this is also the 8th 200-plus total in Delhi this year, joint-most at any venue in a season.
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Can Stubbs take DC to 200?
294.02 Tristan Stubbs' strike rate at the death (overs 16-20) in IPL 2024
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LSG's excellent recovery
Porel raced to his fifty in 21 balls but hit only eight runs off the next 12 balls, thanks to LSG spinners who exerted pressure in the middle overs. Rahul brought in Ravi Bishnoi immediately after the powerplay and then made Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda contain from other end. Bishnoi broke the 92-run second wicket stand between Porel and Hope in the ninth over, when Rahul took a stunning low catch at covers to dismiss the West Indian for a 27-ball 38. After a few quiet overs, Porel eventually fell to Naveen-ul-Haq's slower ball, trying to go big. Bishnoi was excellent in his spell, returning 26 for 1. Meanwhile, DC accumulated just 42 runs from overs 7 to 12.
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Bishnoi breaks big stand
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Second fifty for Porel
165.28 Abishek Porel's strike rate in IPL 2024. The left-handed batter struck his second fifty of the season today, bringing up his half-century in just 21 balls.
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Hope and Porel's power play
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DC lost their aggressive opener Jake Fraser-McGurk in the first over when he swung his bat a bit only to be caught at long-on. Well done LSG on setting up the trap. But Abishek Porel and Shai Hope didn't let that wicket slow down DC. After smashing six off Mohsin Khan, Porel punished three fours and a six in Arshad Khan's second over. In the following over, Hope targeted Yudhvir Singh and hit 4,4, 6. By the end of four overs, DC have raced to fifty. Remember, it's a small ground. So, expect a high-scoring game today.
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Mohsin Khan's incredible journey
ICYMI, Nagraj Gollapudi spoke to left-arm quick Mohsin Khan, who nearly lost an arm, but is back to being Lucknow's enforcer. Snippet:
"I just want to play well," Mohsin says about playing for India. "Wherever I play, I just ensure that I do my best for the team. Where I am at the moment, I am just thinking about that. I am doing what is in my hands. Baaki, Allah ki meherbaani hain - kahan tak khelna, kya karna hain." [The rest is in the hands of the almighty, what level I get to, what I do, and all that.]
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Pant vs Rahul time
LSG have won the toss and will bowl first. Rahul says he needs the team "to be brave with bat and ball and see how we can win". Pant says he would have batted first as well "because we have batted first a lot." Two changes for DC: Naib, Pant in for Warner and Kushagra. LSG have brought in Arshad and Yudhvir.
LSG XI: 1 KL Rahul (capt & wk), 2 Quinton de Kock, 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Arshad Khan, 8 Yudhvir Singh, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Mohsin Khan
Impact sub options - Ayush Badoni, Devdutt Padikkal, Prerak Mankad, Siddharth M, K Gowtham
DC XI: 1 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2 Abishek Porel, 3 Shai Hope, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Rasikh Salam, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mukesh Kumar, 11 Khaleel Ahmed
Impact sub options - Ishant Sharma, Kumar Kushagra, Pravin Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Swastik Chhikara
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Can LSG register a massive win to stay afloat?
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to match no. 64, it's Delhi Capitals vs Lucknow Super Giants in Delhi. We are in the business end of the IPL, with these two teams having a realistic shot at joining KKR in the final four.
But DC are really hanging by a thread - they need to win big and then then hope an improbable sequence of other results falls in their favour. LSG? It's a massive game for them as they have a better chance than DC of making the playoffs, as Himanshu Agrawal points out in his preview. They need a win in Delhi, and another in Mumbai to get to 16 points and hope CSK and SRH don't make it to 16.
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