Lucknow Super Giants triumphed against Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League 2022 in three out of four rounds at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. The team won by six wickets in three out of four rounds. Lucknow Super Giants’ previous loss to Gujarat Titans seemed to be a wake-up call that LSG players needed for they have since maintained the upper hand for three consecutive times. So far, the team has defeated Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals in the most recent game.
The spotlight fell on Quinton de Kock and his mastery on the field, significantly contributing to his team’s brilliant win. He scored 80 at the top of the innings and seamlessly managed the field to let teammates Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni to shine and acquire their respective claps.
Having the benefit of winning the toss, LSG chose to bowl first. The team then used this chance to produce an integral bowling performance to restrict Delhi Capitals to 149/3 in 20 overs. As a result, LSG scored their third win to move to six points. Now, LSG ranks second with a net run rate of +0.256 and with only Kolkata Knight Riders left to chase. Delhi Capitals, to the contrary, has not moved from the seventh place. The team has only won once in the past three games with a net run rate of -0.116.
Aakash Chopra's review and praise for LSG
Lucknow Super Giants’ tactics received overwhelming praise from former Indian cricket team opener Aakash Chopra. He gave a full, detailed review and commentary about the match. An iconic comment was made in the process where he made a point about the team mentor Gautam Gambhir being as intellectual as Chacha Chaudhary, a famous Indian comic book character who is best known for having an exceptional brain that runs faster than a computer.
“Gautam Gambhir's brain is like Chacha Chaudhary, it runs very fast. He sends Krunal Pandya up the order at times and Badoni at other times, sometimes Hooda and here he dropped Pandey Ji (Manish Pandey),” he commented. “We had discussed this, that you should drop Pandey Ji and make your bowling stronger, play Krishnappa Gowtham because the opposing team has a lot of lefties.”
The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) sportsman also gave a shout-out to KL Rahul. He evaluated that KL Rahul acted as the vital supporting role to Quinton de Kock’s success. Of Rahul, he said, “Rahul batted cautiously, run-a-ball 24 runs, that was what was necessary because the player at the other end was running at a strike rate of 150.”
