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Markram stars but Delhi still beat Lucknow in IPL

cricket22 April 2025 18:00| Β© MWP
By:Ross Roche
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Aiden Markram produced another impressive all-round performance, but this time in a losing effort as the Lucknow Super Giants were comfortably beaten by the Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in their IPL clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday night.

Markram top scored for Lucknow, hammering 52 off 33 balls (2x4; 3x6) at the top of the order, supported by Mitchell Marsh, 45 off 36 (3x4; 1x6), and Ayush Badoni, 36 off 21 (6x4), down the back end, as they reached 159-6 batting first.

The South African then took the only two Capitals wickets in the chase, finishing with figures of 2-30 in his three overs, but it wasn’t enough as KL Rahul starred crunching an unbeaten 57 off 42 (3x4; 3x6), to lead his team to an easy win in the end.

He was superbly backed up by Abishek Porel, 51 off 36 (5x4; 1x6) and captain Axar Patel, 34no off 20 (1x4; 4x6), as their efforts helped them cruise home with 13 balls to spare.

The Capitals' chase got off to a quick start, but Markram struck early, as he had Karun Nair (15), bowled off his thigh, a ball after he was launched for six, leaving them on 36-1 in the fourth over.

That brought Rahul in to join Porel and they set up the win with a 69-run second-wicket partnership off 49 balls, as they finished the powerplay on 54-1 and moved onto 80-1 by the halfway mark.

Porel reached his fifty in the 11th over by launching Ravi Bishnoi straight down the ground for six and then knocking a single, while Rahul also powered a six in the over as it went for 16.

In the next Markram made a second breakthrough, again recovering after being hit for six, this time by Rahul at the start of the over, with him then having Porel caught by David Miller at deep midwicket, leaving the Capitals on 105-2.

But that was as good as it got for the home side as Patel took charge of an unbeaten 56-run stand with Rahul, crunching four sixes in his knock, but it was deservedly Rahul who ended proceedings by thumping Prince Yadav for six towards the end of the 18th over.

At the start of the match the Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl, with the Lucknow innings getting off to a strong start thanks to an 87-run first-wicket partnership between Markram and Marsh within the first 10 overs.

That saw them take 51 off the powerplay, while Markram reached a well-deserved half century with a two off Mitchell Starc at the end of the ninth over.

Just as Lucknow looked like they would reach the halfway mark in a great position, Markram tried to launch Dushmantha Chameera over the deep cover boundary, but only managed to find his fellow countryman Tristan Stubbs in the deep, leaving them on 87-1 after 10 overs.

KUMAR SHINES WITH THE BALL

That started the Capitals fightback, as they only conceded 72 off the final 10 overs, while also picking up five more wickets.

That started with new man Nicholas Pooran (9), having crunched two fours in his first four balls, he was then dismissed by his nemesis Starc, who bowled him, to pick him up for the fifth time in 14 balls in all T20s, with the score 99-2 in the 12th over.

Mukesh Kumar claimed a double strike in the 14th, catching Abdul Samad (2) off his own bowling, and yorking Marsh with a beauty, as Lucknow slipped to 110-4.

That brought in impact player Badoni, who was the aggressor down the back straight, and along with Miller (14*), who struggled in the 15 balls he faced, they combined for a 49-run stand to get their side over the 150-run mark.

An action packed final over saw Badoni crash Kumar for three straight fours, before the bowler hit back by bowling Badoni, and Rishabh Pant for a second-ball duck, as they ended on a below par score, with Kumar the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-33.

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), Abdul Samad, David Miller, Shardul Thakur, Digvesh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav

DELHI CAPITALS: Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar

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