(CMC) – Rovman Powell and Evin Lewis both failed while Jason Holder went wicket-less but it was the former West Indies Test captain’s miserly spell which helped Lucknow Super Giants limit Delhi Capitals and pull off a six-wicket win here yesterday.
Sent in at the DY Patil Sports Academy, Delhi Capitals could only muster 149 for three off their 20 overs with opener Prithvi Shaw carving out 61 from 34 deliveries.
Captain Rishabh Pant struck an unbeaten 39 off 36 balls and Sarfaraz Khan, 36 not out off 28 balls, but they never found the acceleration required to provide the strong finish Capitals required thanks to Holder’s accuracy and guile.
In reply, Super Giants’ run chase was energised by Man-of-the-Match Quinton de Kock, the South African opener lashing 80 off 52 deliveries, as they overhauled their target with two balls to spare.
The win was Super Giants’ third in four outings and moved them second on six points but level with leaders Kolkata Knight Riders who boast an identical record.
For Capitals, the defeat was their second in three matches and left them seventh on two points in the ten-team league.
Twenty-two year-old Shaw handed Capitals a lively start, pummeling nine fours and a couple of sixes in a 67-run, opening stand with Australian David Warner (4).
Three wickets tumbled for seven runs in the space of 19 deliveries, however, leaving the innings tottering on 74 for three in the 11th over before Pant and Sarfaraz combined in a 75-run, unbroken fourth wicket stand to control the back end.
Rovman Powell was one of the wickets to fall for three, missing a heave at a googly from Ravi Bishnoi (2-22) and having his off-stump disturbed.
Holder, whose two overs with the new ball leaked 18 runs, returned with the old ball to concede only 12 runs in his final spell to end with none for 30 from his four overs. He sent down a high class final over that cost just seven runs, surrendering only a string of singles and keeping the dangerous Pant muzzled.
Faced with a straightforward target, de Kock put on 73 for the first wicket with KL Rahul (24) before adding a further 36 for the third with Deepak Hooda (11) to put Super Giants on course.
Lewis, arriving at number three, made only five from 13 balls before holing out to mid-wicket in the 13th over off off-spinner Lalit Yadav.
