IPL 2023 | Match 3 | LSG vs DC

Mayers and Wood blow Delhi Capitals away Lucknow Super Giants cruised to a convincing victory at the Ekana stadium thanks to an explosive batting performance from the Caribbean duo of Nicolas Pooran and Kyle Mayers and a breath-taking display of express pace from Mark Wood. Both players scored runs in the innings. This was the first game between the two teams, and the LSG led by KL Rahul scored to kick off their campaign on a positive note.

After a quiet powerplay, Mayers leads a surge. The Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first on a wicket with green patches and red soil, according to Delhi skipper David Warner, so they would "know what to chase." Khaleel dropped a sitter off Mayers' bat, and the Indian pace trio kept LSG quiet and even took out KL Rahul (who was caught in the deep by Sakaria). As Mayers tore apart the DC bowling and clubbed 73 off 38 balls, this would be a costly drop. LSG got back in the game, getting Hooda and Mayers with hardly a pause in between, easing back the scoring rate in the center overs.

Finishing with a flourish Pooran and Badoni However, Nicolas Pooran's cameo, aided by Ayush Badoni and a last-ball six from impact player Krishnappa Gowtham, ensured that LSG scored 66 runs in the final five overs, establishing momentum for the second innings. Sakaria, who had a good start to his spell, lost 53 runs in his quota, 22 of which came in an expensive last over. After the 19th over, Aman Khan took over as LSG's impact player, and Krishnappa Gowtham took over as LSG's impact player after Ayush Badoni lost his wicket off the penultimate ball of the innings. Gowtham had a prompt effect, crushing his sole ball for six, leaving Sakaria's figures destroyed.

A brief flier that led to a massacre In response, the DC openers Warner and Shaw got off to a flier and took a liking to Jaydev Unadkat. However, Mark Wood struck Mitchell Marsh with a 147.8 kmph fireball and hit the top of Prithvi Shaw's off-stump with a 147.3 kmph corker. In a crucial LSG spell, he got Sarfaraz caught behind with a free hit. Rilee Rossouw picked Ravi Bishnoi apart and hammered him for 17 runs in the 10th over, with the required rate almost 12 for the remaining 10 overs. Wood eventually bounced him out in his second over, stopping DC's scoring.

A meek surrender results in a dull finish Rilee Rossouw and Rovman Powell were soon bowled out by Bishnoi, reducing the total to 84 out of 30. At this point, Warner's anchor strategy appeared to be in doubt when he was joined by Axar Patel, the last known batter. To put an end to DC's last hope, Avesh Khan eventually convinced Warner to hide out at the long-on boundary. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel stayed around, fighting a few times, but in the end, it was all pointless. In his final over, Wood returned to pick up two wickets, giving him a five-wicket haul in his first game for LSG. The team won by a roaring 50 runs to announce their entry into this tournament.

Brief Ratings: Lucknow Super Giants defeated Delhi Capitals 143/9 in 20 overs (David Warner 56, Rilee Rossouw 30, Mark Wood 5-14) by 50 runs in 193/6 innings (Kyle Mayers 73, Nicolan Pooran 36, Khaleel Ahmed 2-30).

On April 3, a positive LSG takes on CSK in Chennai. The Delhi Capitals will get a boost on Tuesday, April 4, when they play the Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, at the Kotla.