KL Rahul shines with bat, Mohsin Khan with ball as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals

Half-centuries from KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda propelled Lucknow Super Giants to 195 for 3 even without a heavy-duty finish. Delhi Capitals’ productive opening partnership could not fire this time, and the middle order threatened to make up, but came unstuck against Mohsin Khan and Ravi Bishnoi. It was the seventh win in ten games for LSG, while DC have now lost more games (five) than they have won (four).
Rahul, Hooda load up 
Rishabh Pant said at the toss that it was a fresh pitch in the first afternoon game of the season at Wankhede Stadium, and on early evidence from Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya, it seemed that denial of pace would be hard to hit against, even with the new ball. But when Quinton de Kock lofted Sakariya’s widish on-pace offering without fuss for four over extra cover in the second over, it was also evident that the wider lines would travel if timed well.
That hadn’t been the case previously in a couple of games at the ground on the easternmost pitch. But KL Rahul had still managed to find a way to make a century against Mumbai Indians then. He started slow again on Sunday afternoon, remaining just above run-a-ball for nearly half of the innings. He still generated enough late acceleration to end with a strike-rate of 151, almost as much as Deepak Hooda, who went after the bowling much earlier and struck at 153. Until the 12th over, Rahul did not hit a single boundary off a seamer, and even later, he attacked mostly the wide ones or offerings on the pads. It’s like he’s on autopilot cruise mode – not unlike vintage ODI batting of the 90s – in T20 and just knows when to turn the switch on, and importantly, is able to as well.
Meanwhile, DC tried to keep Hooda quiet initially with a short point; he does have the tendency to rise with the bounce and steer the ball square. But Hooda is also strong through extra cover, and he powered several boundaries past a somewhat hesitant Prithvi Shaw in the position.
Kuldeep attacked 
The second-wicket stand between Rahul and Hooda tallied 95 in ten overs, and the pair now averages 61 batting together this season. The partnership acquired momentum when both took on DC’s best bowler of IPL 2022 Kuldeep Yadav immediately. Brimming with the confidence that his 17 wickets have brought, Kuldeep tossed it up liberally, and paid for it, so much so that he wasn’t used for his full quota.
Rahul timed his first ball so sweetly down the ground that long-off could not get to it despite a fair dash. Kuldeep flighted his first delivery to Hooda, too, and was powered to the extra-cover rope. Kuldeep’s first two overs went for 26, and he wouldn’t be seen again until the 16th, which salvaged his figures as he bowled three successive dots to a struggling Marcus Stoinis.
The Australian scraped an unbeaten 16-ball 17. And Rahul, who seemed set for his third ton of the season to equal Jos Buttler, fell in the 19th to a spectacular jumping take on the deep point rope Lalit Yadav. That meant LSG took 50 off the last five overs from a strong position of 145 for 2, when they could have certainly finished better.
DC flatter to deceive 
The opening pair of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw has scored the bulk of their runs this year, so it was going to be a test for the middle order after both had exited the third over. Shaw was caught for the umpteenth time top-edging an attempted pull, and Warner pulled Mohsin Khan straight to midwicket.
Mitchell Marsh walked in at No 3 with a strike-rate of 87 in two games and started timing and muscling the ball in an ominous fashion. Launching picked-up, pulled and dead-straight sixes, Marsh was in some mood. But K Gowtham bowled a top-spinner first ball that went straight on, Marsh was given caught behind and walked off without reviewing. However, replays showed no spike as the ball passed the bat, and DC coach Ricky Ponting was barely able to suppress his frustration in the dugout.
Meanwhile, Pant had launched a serious assault on Krunal Pandya with four successive boundaries, charging him repeatedly despite being done in the flight once and escaping. He appeared pretty eager to make a difference, slamming his bat on his pad after a close call for a boundary save went in LSG’s favour. But even as DC moved past 100, Pant closed the bat-face a bit too much and was bowled Mohsin. The left-arm seamer had Rovman Powell caught in the deep at the start of the 17th to all but shut DC out. And with 21 needed off the last over, Stoinis denied Kuldeep and Axar Patel comfortably, even after copping a six from Kuldeep off the first ball.
Brief scores: Lucknow Super Giants 195 for 3 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 71, Deepak Hooda 52; Shadul Thakur 3/40) bt Delhi Capitals 189 for 7 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 44, Mitchell Marsh 37; Mohsin Khan 4/16) 6 runs