Ashutosh stars as Capitals chase down 210 to beat Super Giants
Delhi Capitals pulled off a dramatic comeback against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday morning (AEDT) in Visakhapatnam, fighting back from 5/65 to chase down 210 with one wicket and three balls remaining.
DC came into game four of the 2025 IPL as slight favourites across T20 betting sites to collect an opening win, but they looked at sea when LSG made a strong start with the bat.
Lucknow batsmen Mitchell Marsh (72 from 36) and Nicholas Pooran (75 from 30) feasted on Delhi’s bowling, powering through to 2/161 from just 13.3 overs.
The hosts looked well on track for a 250-plus score but were unable to maintain their momentum, losing 6/48 over the final six-and-a-half overs of the match to splutter through to 8/209.
Despite having left runs out there, LSG were still favourites at the halfway point on top betting apps.
Their odds shortened even further when three of Delhi’s batsmen returned to the sheds inside the first 10 balls, with Jake Fraser-McGurk (1 from 2), Abishek Porel (0 from 2) and Sameer Rizvi (4 from 4) all failing to get started.
Two further wickets fell soon after, with Faf du Plessis (29 from 18) and Axar Patel (22 from 11) having their stand snapped by LSG’s spinners.
Sitting at 5/65 after 6.4 overs, Delhi’s chase was in tatters and the game seemed all but lost.
That is, until Ashutosh Sharma (66* from 31) came to the crease and played the innings of his life, cracking five sixes to take DC over the line in the most unlikely fashion.
Ashutosh had company from Tristan Stubbs (34 from 22) and Vipraj Nigam (39 from 15) for the majority of his innings, but matters became precarious when both got out and two further wickets left Delhi teetering at nine down.
No.11 Mohit Sharma survived two balls in the 20th over before giving the strike to Ashutosh, who promptly sent one over the ropes to seal the one-wicket victory.
“I learned from the last year, because there were a few games where I couldn’t finish the game,” Ashutosh said afterwards.
“I have been focusing on finishing games, even in domestic cricket.
“I have a lot of belief in myself that if I play till the last over and the last ball, anything can happen.
“You just have to stay calm, and believe, and think about what shots you can play that you have practiced, so that’s what I did today.”
Despite the victory, IPL bookmakers still have Delhi on the sixth line of betting at $11 to win the title, while Lucknow have drifted out to $21 following the defeat.
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