Ashutosh Sharma played an innings of a lifetime when he dragged Delhi Capitals from the dead with a blistering half century and helped them defeat Lucknow Super Giants by 1 wicket in a thrilling encounter. Vipraj Nigam’s quickfire 39 off 15 and Tristan Stubbs’ 34 also played their part as Ashutosh Sharma entered god mode in the end, pulling DC, who were down 4 wickets at the end of the powerplay, kicking and screaming over the finish line.
Delhi Capitals clinched a thrilling one-wicket win in the final over chasing down 210 with Ashutosh Sharma playing a sensational finishing role. Ashutosh Sharma hit an unbeaten 66 of 31 balls after DC slipped to 66/5 in a 209-run chase. In a game filled with dramatic twists, it was Ashutosh’s nerveless, clean-hitting in the death overs that sealed the deal for Delhi Capitals.
Ashutosh Sharma hit 35 of the 61 runs that DC needed in the last five overs and got them home with just one wicket to spare. Unlike LSG’s innings which had a lot of power-hitting in the front-end, DC stuttered, stumbled but eventually got over the line thanks to the belligerence of Ashutosh.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : 62m square boundaries and 73m down the ground. The pitch has been rolled very nicely, it’s hard and even. There is not much grass. The curator has been rolling this pitch since a month. It’s a track where a lot of runs will be scored. 180-190 runs are gettable on this surface.
Toss : DC Capitals skipper Axar Patel won the toss and chose to bowl with four overseas players in Faf du Plessis, Stubbs, Starc and Fraser-McGurk in the Playing XI. Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant who also wanted to bowl first had Markram, Marsh, Pooran and Miller as his overseas options in the Playing XI.
Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav restricts LSG to 209 after fiery innings from Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran
The Australian Mitchell Marsh imposed himself with some cracking hits inside the powerplay, particularly against anything short in length which Delhi Capitals were guilty of being. The initial assault began against Delhi Capital’s’ strike-force and his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc whom he flicked for six in the first over.
In Starc’s following over after Aiden Markram lofted him over cover for six, Marsh peppered the onside boundary as he went for 21. DC’s reply to the onslaught was to turn to a wrist-spinner early and Vipraj Nigam managed to have Markram holing out to long off even as he was picked up for boundaries. In all Lucknow were pretty comfortably placed after the powerplay with DC being forced to do the catching up thereafter.
In IPL 2024, LSG were often found lagging in the powerplay. This season, they are on a mission to fix that, and Marsh and Pooran took on the responsibility. While Aiden Markram fell early, Marsh took on his countryman Mitchell Starc. Marsh, who is playing IPL 2025 as a specialist batter, piled on the runs in the powerplay – 43 off just 19 balls, the most he has ever scored in the phase in the IPL.
Pooran came in at No. 3 and the onslaught came from both ends. While Marsh reached his half-century in 21 balls, Pooran took 24 to get there as LSG crossed the 100 mark in the ninth over. Pooran was particularly severe on the spinners. He smashed 60 runs off just 18 balls against them, at a strike rate of 333.33. That included a 28-run over against Stubbs, with Pooran smashing his offspin for four back-to-back sixes and then a four. At the other end, Marsh was brutal against the quicks, going at 255.55 against them.
Pooran struck six fours and seven sixes in his 30-ball 75, while Marsh hammered six fours and six sixes in his 36-ball 72. When they were together, even 250 seemed to be on for LSG. But it would all go awry, soon.
There was little distinction between the end of a powerplay and thereafter. In fact, LSG went on a bigger offensive with both Marsh and Nicholas Pooran getting their eye in. The former brought up a well-deserved 21-ball half-century while Pooran showcased what was to come with a takedown of Nigam hitting him for three sixes even as he was dropped once. Pooran was devastating against spin overall taking complete control of the middle overs.
The duo put on 87 in 42 balls before Marsh miscued a big hit against a slower ball from Mukesh. It did little to affect Pooran who proceeded to smash Tristan Stubbs for four consecutive sixes and a four in the 13th over. In the process, he also notched up a 24-ball half-century. Just as LSG were looking set to get onto a bigger onslaught they lost both Rishabh Pant, holing out to long off for a duck, and Pooran, bowled by a reverse-swinging delivery from Starc, to push them back.
The wickets getting into the back end and the lack of adequate firepower in the lower-order did not help LSG’s cause. Ayush Badoni was caught in the deep of Kuldeep while Mitchell Starc struck twice in the penultimate over that kept robbing LSG off momentum.
But they still had David Miller unbeaten till the end and his two sixes off the last two balls of the innings gave it a much-needed fillip taking them over 200. At one point they had threatened to be touching 250, so the end overs was a win for Delhi Capitals even though the total was a daunting one.
At 161 for 2 after 13 overs, the sky was the limit for LSG. ESPNCricinfo’s forecaster had them scoring 246, and they looked like going beyond. But Starc and Kuldeep brought DC roaring back into the game. Kuldeep first took out Pant for a six-ball duck, as he toe-ended straight to long-off.
Starc then rattled Pooran’s stumps with a full delivery that tailed in late in the next over, the 15th. Badoni took Kuldeep on in the 17th and failed to clear long-on, and two balls later, Thakur was run out. Starc took out Shahbaz and Bishnoi in his final over, and LSG only added 33 runs from overs 14 to 19 while losing six wickets.
That LSG even crossed 200 was down to David Miller thumping Mohit for two sixes off the last two balls of the innings. That took them to 209, and for the longest time it felt like it would be enough. It wasn’t.
Ashutosh Sharma in company of Vipraj Nigam and Tristan Stubbs stuns LSG as DC complete one-wicket heist in a thriller at IPL 2025
Shardul Thakur gave LSG the perfect start with two wickets in the first over. First Jake Fraser-McGurk was done in by a slower ball while Abhishek Porel too mistimed a big hit. M Siddharth, the impact player for LSG, then had Sameer Rizvi caught behind leaving DC in dire straits.
New DC captain Axar Patel had said at the toss that he was bowling first because he didn’t “want to take a risk with the dew later on”. Unfortunately for him, DC’s top order collapsed even before the dew could take effect. And it was Shardul Thakur who made the early strikes. Thakur wasn’t even supposed to be at the IPL. He went unsold at the auction, and was supposed to be playing County cricket for Essex while the IPL was on. But the injured Mohsin Khan was ruled out and Thakur found a way in.
And in his first over, he had Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abhishek Porel miscuing. There was excellent captaincy as well from Pant, who stationed a long-off for Fraser-McGurk. He miscued an outswinger in that fielder’s direction while attempting to go over the on side, and Ayush Badoni completed a good catch. Two balls later, Porel mistimed an outswinger to Pooran at mid-off.
But skipper Axar Patel, along with the experienced Faf du Plessis, managed to get a repair job going. Siddharth was picked up for 15 in his next over and Shardul for 13 as the chase got back on track. But just as they were getting into the groove, Patel swept Digvesh Rathi straight into the hands of square leg.
Sameer Rizvi came in and creamed a cover drive first ball but fell soon after, giving the left-arm spinner M Siddharth his first wicket as DC slipped to 7 for 3 in the second over. Axar and Faf du Plessis did a repair job of sorts, adding 43 off 23 balls, but both fell in successive overs and DC were 65 for 5 in the seventh.
DC saw an upsurge come through the middle overs with Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam taking a liking to LSG’s thinning bowling resources. Soon after the end of Du Plessis, Sharma and Stubbs put on a quickfire 48-run stand. Stubbs eyed a big over from M Siddharth lofting him for back-to-back sixes but was castled with a fresher ball after the previous one was lost.
But his departure did not dull DC’s momentum for Vipraj got going almost immediately. He laid into Ravi Bishnoi hitting him for 16 in an over and picking 12 in the next over from Shahbaz Ahmed. It left DC needing 61 in the final five overs.
Ashutosh Sharma had been Punjab Kings’ finisher supreme in IPL 2024, playing blinders one after the other. But they often did not come in winning causes, with Ashutosh Sharma falling just short of the finishing line in thrilling chases against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. Now, playing for a new team, he entered the match as their Impact Player with DC in more than a spot of bother at 65 for 5 in 6.4 overs. He started slowly, taking time to find his touch, but made sure he didn’t throw his wicket away.
Losing Tristan Stubbs didn’t help, and at 116 for 6 in 13 overs, ESPNCricinfo’s win probability for DC was 1.46%. But Ashutosh Sharma has made fighting the odds a habit. He got excellent support from Nigam, who actually got the chase going. The allrounder first took on Ravi Bishnoi, carting him for two fours and a six in the 14th over, and then hacked Shahbaz for a four and a six in the next.
There were plenty of twists right through the back end. Nigam and Ashutosh Sharma picked up 20 off Prince Yadav’s 16th over but the former was dismissed missing a lap in the following over. LSG kept hitting back with regular wickets as Bishnoi accounted for Mitchell Starc while Kuldeep Yadav was run-out in a mix-up. But through it all, Ashutosh Sharma managed to keep clearing the ropes when he got on strike. Straight after Starc’s dismissal he powered Bishnoi for three boundaries, and similarly cracked Prince Yadav after Kuldeep was dismissed.
While Nigam fell to fellow debutant Digvesh Rathi, Ashutosh Sharma was in no mood to stop. He went 6, 4, 6 against Bishnoi and the equation came down to a manageable 22 off 12, though DC only had two wickets in hand. It came down to the last wicket when Kuldeep Yadav was run out in an attempt to sneak a bye and get Ashutosh back on strike, but that sacrifice seemed worth it when Ashutosh Sharma hit the last two balls of that over, from Prince Yadav, for six and four to take DC into the final over needing just six.
In the final over with just six needed, Mohit Sharma had a chance going his way where he overbalanced and was hit on the pad by a turner from Shahbaz. The deflection took it past Pant who missed the stumping and to Mohit’s good fortune he was not LBW on review as well. He calmly tapped a single the following ball to get Ashutosh back on strike who nonchalantly lofted his fifth six to seal the match.
No. 11 Mohit Sharma was on strike for the first ball, and he could have been dismissed when he overbalanced, looking to flick Shahbaz against the turn. The ball missed his outside edge and deflected off his back leg, causing Pant to fumble a half-chance for a stumping, but he took a review for lbw; ball-tracking suggested the ball would have just missed off stump.
Mohit then managed to push the next ball away for a single, bringing Ashutosh Sharma back on strike. Ashutosh Sharma walloped Shahbaz straight into the sightscreen, and the DC dugout erupted with joy.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Rishabh Pant the loosing LSG skipper said : I think our top-order batters played really well and I think it was a pretty good score on this wicket. As a team we are looking to take positives from every match and as a team we are looking to learn from it (every match.) The more basics we do right, the more it is going to be better for us in the future. We got early wickets, but we knew it was a good wicket to bat on.
We had to keep doing the basics right more often than not. I think they had a couple of good partnerships. One with Stubbs, with Ashutosh and one with one other guy (Vipraj Nigam.) I think he (Nigam) did a pretty good job and took the game away from us.
There was enough for the bowlers, but I think we could have done the basics right. We felt the pressure, we are still settling in, but a lots of positives to take from this match. Definitely luck plays a part in this game and if it could have missed his (Mohit Sharma’s) pads, it was a chance for stumping. But these things happen in the game of cricket, you can’t focus on these things, but rather you need to play better cricket.
Axar Patel the winning DC skipper said : Get used to it now. It’s going to be like this only under my captaincy, Things will be up and down a little. Now that we have won, people won’t complain about why I gave that over to Stubbs. Don’t remember the last time I saw something like this.
The way they played in the first six overs, we felt we gave a few too many early on. We dropped some catches as well. It looked like they could score 240, but we pulled things back. We know how much potential he has (Vipraj Nigam).
Ashutosh Sharma Player of the Match for his ballistic 66 runs from 31 balls said : Took the lessons from last year. Missed out on finishing the game on a couple of occasions in the previous season. The whole year I focussed and visualised about it. Had the belief that if I play till the last over, anything can happen. Well played to Vipraj. I asked him to keep hitting. He was very calm under pressure. Want to dedicate this award to my mentor Shikhar paaji.
Ashutosh Sharma was going nowhere. He was on 20 off 20 balls. The required rate was over 12. Then he flicked a switch and decided to make Delhi Capitals’ opening game of IPL 2025, against Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam, all about him.
With 62 needed off 30, with four wickets in hand, Ashutosh Sharma went bang, bang and then some more as he smashed 46 off his next 11 balls to lead DC to an epic one-wicket win with just three balls to spare. Arms raised he was engulfed by his team-mates as a bewildered Rishabh Pant, DC’s ex-captain now leading LSG, looked on.
LSG, sent in to bat and riding on Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh’s whirlwind knocks, had posted 209 for 8. At one point, they had looked set for much more, even 250, but the DC bowlers came back in style, conceding only 48 runs off the last seven overs and picking up six wickets. While Pooran and Marsh accounted for 147 off 66 balls, the rest of LSG’s batters managed just 55 off 55 between them.
DC were reduced to 7 for 3 in their chase and at most stages looked down and out, but they found a new hero in the debutant Vipraj Nigam, who walked out at No. 8, with 97 needed in 45 balls, and thrashed 39 off 15. He fell with DC needing 42 off 23, but Ashutosh Sharma made sure to haul DC over the line, finishing things off with a six down the ground off Shahbaz Ahmed.
Well here comes the first proper thriller from IPL 2025! At 113/6, with close to 100 needed off just 45 balls, not many would’ve seen this coming. But every time it looked like the game was over for DC, they came back with a bang. It started with an absolute blinder from Vipraj Nigam who played an incredible knock of 39 off just 15 balls to announce his arrival in the IPL. Some of the shots from him were very special and he’s going to be one to watch out for.
But the killer punch came from Ashutosh Sharma as he muscled the LSG bowlers to the floor with his power hitting. With enough grip on offer from the pitch, Pant backed his spinners towards the death, but Bishnoi missed his lengths very badly in the 18th over, while Shahbaz also bowled one right in the slot with just 5 runs left. Prince Yadav, who showed some good skills with his yorkers, missed his execution in his last two overs as well, going for 20 and 16 respectively.
Stunning result for DC after being down and seemingly out for a while. They’ll cherish this performance from their two unheralded gems and gain a lot of confidence out of it, while LSG would be pretty shellshocked at the moment. Their bowling concerns were no secret coming into this game but who would’ve thought it would haunt them so badly after a bright start. Not to forget the runs they left out there earlier.
Lucknow Super Giants will hop over to Hyderabad where they will take on the imposing Sunrisers Hyderabad while Delhi Capitals have a five-day break before they host SRH in Vizag once again.
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