LUCKNOW, India, CMC – West Indies One-day International captain Shai Hope, and former white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran were mere footnotes when Delhi Capitals ended their run of four defeats with six-wicket win against hosts Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League yesterday. Hope was not out on 11 and helped formalise a successful chase of 168 to give the Capitals their second win of the season in the match at the Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk led the run chase with an explosive 55 off 35 balls that included two fours and five sixes, DC captain Rishabh Pant supported with 41 off 24 bals, and opener Prithvi Shaw got 32.
This followed a restrictive spell of three for 20 in four overs from unorthodox left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav in which he bowled left-hander Pooran for a first-ball duck.
Ayush Badoni, batting at seven, hit the top score of 55 off 35 balls for LSG, their captain K.L. Rahul made 39 off 22 balls, and Arshad Khan was not out on 20 in their total of 167 for seven after they decided to bat. In the first half of the LSG batting, the DC bowlers made a strong comeback after Rahul and South Africa international Quinton de Kock gave the hosts a strong start.
LSG finished the Power Play on 57 for two, and they slumped to 94 for seven in the 13th over before Badoni shared an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 73 with Khan to carry them to a respectable total.
Fraser-McGurk replaced retired fellow Australia international David Warner in the fourth over and launched a brutal assault on the DC bowling.
The highlight of the innings was his treatment of Krunal Pandya, smashing the left-arm spinner for three consecutive sixes, prompting the bowler to deliver a bouncer – a rare sight from a spinner.
Fraser-McGurk put on 77 for the third wicket with Pant that put DC firmly on track for victory and they completed the task with 11 balls remaining, moving them off the bottom of the 10-team table to ninth on four points – two more than the star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore.
