DC Vs LSG, 4TH IPL match 2025, Visakhapatnam : Ashutosh’s Masterclass Batting Snatched Victory From LSG In A High Class Thriller .
Delhi Capitals charged to an improbable run chase, edging out Lucknow Super Giants by three balls in their IPL 2025 opener in Visakhapatnam on Monday, successfully chasing down a target of 210. It was star finisher Ashutosh Sharma who slammed 66 off 31 balls as DC batted back from 65/5 to claim a one-wicket victory. DC lost three wickets in the first 10 balls and the main players kept falling at regular intervals. New debuitant Vipraj Nigam then revived the hopes of DC by smashing 39 off 15 before Ashutosh ended the show with his heroics. As for LSG, they managed to score 209/8 in their allotted overs, thanks to blistering half-centuries by Nicholas Pooran (75) and Mitchell Marsh (72). Rishabh Pant, the Rs 27 crore-buy for LSG, which was his first game, he couldn’t make it big as he walked back scoring a six-ball duck. DC had opted to bowl after winning the toss. Ashutosh’s Masterclass Batting Snatched Victory From LSG In A High Class Thriller .
TOSS-
Delhi Capitals won the toss and have opted to bowl.
TEAMS LINE UP-
Delhi Capitals Squad:
Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Ashutosh Sharma
Lucknow Super Giants Squad:
Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), David Miller, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Manimaran Siddharth
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS-
The Australian made his mark with a few cracking hits in the powerplay overs, especially against anything short in length which Delhi Capitals were guilty of offering. The first strike was on Delhi Captials’ clash-winner and his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc whom he flicked for a maximum in the very first over. Starc’s next over, Aiden Markram lofted him over cover for six, then Marsh peppered the onside boundary as he set for 21. DC’s response to the onslaught was to introduce a wrist-spinner early and Vipraj Nigam had Markram holing out to long off even if he was being carted for boundaries. By the end of powerplay it was all Lucknow quite well but then took the form of DC chasing.
The difference between the end of a powerplay and otherwise was minimal. True to that, LSG upped the ante further with both Marsh and Nicholas Pooran settling in. While the first brought up a deserved half-century off 21 balls, Pooran set the tone for what was to come with a hammering of Nigam, smashing him for three sixes, though he was helped by one life. Overall Pooran was destructive against spin taking total control of the middle overs. The pair added 87 in 42 balls before Marsh perished attempting a big hit off a slower ball from Mukesh. Pooran was unaffected by that moment and he smashed Tristan Stubbs for four sixes in a row and a four in the 13th over. He also rocketed to a 24-ball half-century in the progress. As they were set for a mid-innings charge, LSG lost both Rishabh Pant, who blazed down the ground only to find long-off for a duck, and Pooran, bowled with a reverse-swinging delivery by Starc, to set back their plans.
That did not help LSG’s case — the wickets in back end and the shortage of proper firepower in the lower-order. While that kept LSG from gaining any momentum, Ayush Badoni was stuck in thge deep of Kuldeep and Mitchell Starc took two wickets in the penultimate over. They had David Miller not out till the end but his two sixes off the last two balls of the innings gave it a much-needed fillip and gave them over 200. They had threatened to be touching 250 at one point, so Delhi Capitals had done well to keep it down, even though th etotal was still mountainous.
DELHI CAPITALS-
Shardul Thakur had bowled out of his mind in the initial over of LSG innings, picking two wickets. Jake Fraser-McGurk was the first to be done by a slower ball while Abishek Porel too mistimed a big hit. This was the moment when M Siddharth, the impact player of LSG, caught Sameer Rizvi behind the stumps and sent him back to the pavilion which pushed DC in extreme trouble. But captain Axar Patel, abetted by the veteran Faf du Plessis, got a repair job going. But the chase suddenly hit the road again, as Siddharth was taken for 15 in his following over and Shardul for 13. And just when the two were settling in, Patel sent Digvesh Rathi back into the arms of square leg.
An upsurge came through the middle overs in a good partnership between Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam, who took a liking to LSG’s thinning bowling resources. An explosive 48 partnership between Sharma and Stubbs followed soon after the conclusion of Du Plessis. Stubbs sought a hefty over from M Siddharth, when he lofted him for successive six but was castled with a newer ball as the previous was lost. But his exit did not affect DC’s momentum as Vipraj got off the marks very early. He went after Ravi Bishnoi hitting 16 in an over while picking 12 in the next over from Shabaz Ahmed. It left DC needing 61 runs in the last five overs.
There were plenty of twists throughout the back end. Nigam and Ashutosh added 20 from Prince Yadav’s 16th over but the former was dismissed trying to lap from the nextover. Bishnoi also removed Mitchell Starc to keep LSG fighting back as Kuldeep Yadav was run-out in amix-up. But Ashutosh never slacked when on a strike, clearing the fence every time. Right after Starc’s demise he clattered Bishnoi for a trio of boundaries, and likewise mercilessly hammered Prince Yadav after the fall of Kuldeep. It was six needed off the last over, and Mohit Sharma was having a moderate onegoing his way before he overbalanced once and had one turned intohis pad by Shabaz. The deflection left Pant and onthey fortunate Mohit he wasn’t LBW on review either. He tapped the next ball for a single coolly getting Ashutosh back on strike who lofted his fifth six to take them home.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals 211/9 (Ashutosh Sharma 66*; Shardul Thakur 2/19) Won Against Lucknow Super Giants 209/8 (Nicholas Pooran 75, Mitchell Marsh 72; Mitchell Starc 3-42) by 1 wicket.