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Delhi Capitals found a new hero in Ashutosh Sharma, who singlehandedly left Lucknow Super Giants gobsmacked and sealed a narrow one-wicket win for his side in the ongoing Indian Premier League on Monday. The crowd at Visakhapatnam was on a rollercoaster ride they hardly anticipated. They sat on the edge of their seats, witnessed the nerve-wracking events, and slowly fathomed what 26-year-old Ashutosh had achieved at the end as DC completed its biggest run-chase in the cash-rich league. From being down and out at 65/5, Ashutosh played the decisive role in a game where the pendulum swung in favour of both sides. He put on a show for cricket lovers across the globe, stayed till the end, struck the winning six and returned with a match-winning unbeaten 66(31).
Despite lining up with a depleted pace attack, the Super Giants rattled DC early, who were in pursuit of a herculean 210-run target. Shardul Thakur pegged Jake Fraser-McGurk cheaply on the third ball of the second innings.
Abishek Porel sliced it to Nicholas Pooran on the penultimate delivery of the opening over, to leave DC tottering at 6/2. Sameer Rizvi, who was guilty of dropping Nicholas Pooran’s catch in the first innings, returned cheaply to the dugout with a score of 4(4).
The duo of captain and vice-captain Faf du Plessis and Axar Patel tried to stitch up DC’s innings with a quick-fire 43-run partnership. Faf flexed his prowess to find the boundary rope while Axar too joined the party with a couple of flashy hits.
As the partnership tried to threaten LSG’s dominance, Digvesh Rathi found the breakthrough by dismissing Axar on 22(11) in the final over of the powerplay.
In the next over, LSG captain Rishabh Pant instructed goggly spinner Ravi Bishnoi, which instantly paid off. On the next ball, Faf skied his shot high in the air, which landed in David Miller’s hands and forced him to return with a score of 29(18).
Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma took the fight against high-flying LSG and raised a valuable 48-run stand. LSG’s impact substitute, Manimaran Siddharth, made a game-changing impact by finding a bit of grip from the surface and pinning Stubbs (34) in front of the stumps.
Vipraj Nigam made an influential cameo with his quick-fire 39(15), laced with a staggering five boundaries and two towering maximums.
With the equation down to 42 runs in 24 balls, a time-out was taken, allowing both sides to evaluate their course of action. On the first ball after the break, Digvesh removed Vipraj to add another twist to the game.
The game looked in LSG’s grasp, but Ashutosh singlehandedly turned the tides in the Capitals’ favour. On the third ball of the 18th over, he smoked the ball into the stands off Bishnoi. He followed it up with a boundary and finished the over with another searing six.
In the penultimate over, Kuldeep Yadav got run out, adding another turn in the game. Boundaries were the need of the hour, and Ashutosh lit the stadium with a memorable onslaught.
He ran for a double, opened the face of his bat for a six, long way from the boundary rope and topped it up with a four in the final ball, bring the equation down to six from six.
Pant entrusted his faith in Shahbaz to see off the game. On the first ball, Pant missed the opportunity to stump but decided to take a review for LBW. The review confirmed the ball was missing the stumps.
On the next ball, Mohit pushed the ball gently for a single, bringing Ashutosh back on strike. Ashutosh finished it in style with a sensational six straight down the ground, singlehandedly sealing a one-wicket win for DC.
Earlier in the match, Delhi Capitals put LSG to bat on a placid surface after winning the toss. Aiden Markram fell early, but Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran took the mantle of making the most out of the conditions.
They tore through DC’s bowling attack, which made them tilt at the windmills. They picked their targets, bashed them away according to their will and raised an 87-run stand for the second wicket.
When LSG looked destined to cross the 220-run mark, Mukesh Kumar brought an end to Marsh’s entertaining 72(36) by luring him to hole it straight to Stubbs, stationed at long-on.
After the Australian’s exploits ended, Pooran took the brunt of scoring runs on his shoulder. He unleashed hell on Tristan Stubbs with four towering maximums on the trot, garnering 28 runs from the 13th over.
Pooran looked poised to stay till the end and continue his on-field business with a belligerent approach. The explosive batter was toying with spinners and came up against Mitchell Starc in the 15th over.
Starc sent the stumps flying with a touch of reverse swing on the penultimate delivery of the over. Pooran tried to slog it away as the ball bent back in late and launched two stumps into the air.
Pooran jumped on the bandwagon and joined Marsh in the dressing room. From standing in a position to cross 220, LSG stared at the prospect of folding before the 200-run mark.
David Miller, known for his reputation for finishing the innings, opened his arms at the right time. On the last two deliveries of the final over, Miller muscled the ball into the stands twice to lift LSG to 209/8.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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