LSG vs DC IPL 2023 Highlights: Mark Wood picks up 5 wickets, Lucknow Super Giants defeat Delhi Capitals by 50 runs

KL Rahul: I was a great start. We were clueless of the pitch, nice way to start. We'll take confidence from this win. Toss is not in our hands, with the new rules you get to play with the team you want. Gives great depth in bowling and batting. I though we were 30 runs above par. The way Kyle (Mayers) batted. We took an aggressive approach against the spinners and put them under pressure. I thought they started well, but we came back well. It was Wood's day today, it's a dream for a fast bowler and a team. He made it count. Overall, the bowling group did well and put pressure on the batters. We are not going to make too much of it, we'll take confidence it. It's T20 cricket, you need to turn up everyday and be ready for the fight. We don't want to think too much about this win.

Marcus Stoinis: What a brilliant start for us. Got the big boys firing. Woody bowling 160kph, Mayers hitting 160 meters (not literally). That's what the coaches say - nice problems to have (with QDK coming in). Don't know if you guys can tell, but it was absolutely soaking (dew). We do practice under lights. There's not much you can do. It's quite a sandy surface. Just have to take your time to dry the ball for the bowlers. Pitch looked different on each end. One end spun a little more. And Mayers gave himself a bit of time before exploding. I thought I would've been handy on that wicket (with the ball). Just wasn't needed.

David Warner: It was a bit of a challenge. We had some early momentum with the fast bowlers, they bowled very well in the powerplay. A few dropped catches and the momentum shifted there but you can't take anything away from Lucknow. They batted very very well. I thought 170 was par but they did an exceptional job. Momentum is a big thing in this game. Don't take it away from Wood, he's an exceptional bowler and he showed his true talent tonight. I feel on this wicket you're playing on two different surfaces from either end. We started very well. Our bowlers bowled exceptionally well. (On the knock of Mayers) When one guy goes big, he is a big strong boy. He was hard to stop. We go back to Delhi in front of our home crowd. We have to assess the wicket there. Last time I was in Delhi back in 2010-11 it was low and slow. It looks like there's a bit of green grass there now with some dew coming in late in the night. (On being asked about the pitch in the Delhi Test last month) That was a bit of a different wicket with the red ball and we will forget about that (chuckles while saying that).

Mark Wood becomes the second England bowler to bag a five-wicket haul in IPL. Dimitri Mascarenhas was the first, having finished with figures of 5/25 for Punjab against Pune in Mohali (2012).

It was obvious for quite a while now, and it's been seen through by the man who picked apart the DC top order. Mark Wood comes in and picks a fourth off his first ball. Axar Patel caught on deep square leg by Jaydev Unadkat. A deserved 4-fer. Chetan Sakariya gets a boundary off the next delivery. Wood bags him a couple of deliveries later. A 5-fer for the England pacer. A first in IPL 2023. Lucknow beat Delhi by 50 runs. 

Jaydev Unadkat has leaked 31 runs off his first two overs. With the game very much in hand, KL Rahul brings him on for a third. And the left armer starts off well, with just the three off his first five. He then loses shape and gives away four wides behind before finishing with a dot ball. 139/7, 55 needed to win off the last six balls.

The initial set of boundaries from Prithvi Shaw and David Warner had induced a few cheers around the venue. There's only a graveyard silence to offer as Axar Patel lofts one through covers for four. A pull for a six brings out a few sounds, we can't really term them as cheers. See, it barely matter now. 131/7 after 18 overs.

No wickets for Krishnappa Gowtham but he has barely given anything to the DC batters amid the fall of wickets. Another miserly set of six deliveries from the off spinner. Four runs off the over. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are just seeing the innings off for Delhi. 117/7, with three overs remaining.

Game. Set. Match. Lucknow. Avesh Khan comes round the wicket. Good length delivery outside off. A slower one. Warner gets a toe end of the bat to it and Krishnappa Gowtham completes the catch at the boundary on long on. The half-centurion and perhaps DC's last hope of salvaging the unusual goes. 113/7 after 16 overs.

Avesh Khan back on. Amps up the pace, bangs it short, and Aman Khan pulls it. Only to top edge it behind for Nicholas Pooran to collect. A short stay for the DC Impact Player. A sixth wicket for Lucknow. 112/6 after 15.3 overs and the umpire signals for the strategic timeout. 

56th in his IPL career. Unreal stat that. Took 45 deliveries to get to it tonight and Delhi need him to fire now, if they are to steal this game away from Lucknow. Jaydev Unadkat is targeted. First ball, thumped over cover for four. Penultimate delivery, short, reverse pulled behind for a four down third man. 14 off the 15th over. 110/5. 84 required off the last 30 deliveries.

Ravi Bishnoi comes in for a final over. Googly, quicker and Rovman Powell on the backfoot is unable to get the bat onto it. A fifth wicket falls for Delhi. A second for Bishnoi. His fourth over costs just three more to Lucknow. 96/5 after 14 overs. 98 required off the last 36 balls.

And to quite the ovation from the crowd. They want more of him and captain KL Rahul clearly has no reason to hold back. Rovman. Powell joins his skipper with 108 required off the last 48 deliveries. Two doubles, three singles and a dot ball that whiskers past an outside edge later, it is 93/4. 13 overs gone. 101 required off the last 42, and it is very much thanks to the England pacer. 12 dots for him off his 18 deliveries so far.

Straightaway a short delivery from Ravi Bishnoi for Rilee Rossouw, and the left-hander smears it for a boundary through deep mid-wicket. On the final delivery - a fullish one - the southpaw goes for the sweep and misses it altogether. A caught behind appeal follows. Nothing from the umpire. A review follows. Rossouw has started walking back even before the third umpire has gone through a frame. The nick is clearly there and a fourth wicket falls for Delhi. 86/4 after 12 overs.

Taking use of the chaos enforced by that Mark Wood spell and the silence that followed, Krishnappa Gowtham has sneaked in three economical overs. Five off his latest, making Rossouw second guess the off spinner coming round the wicket. 80/3 after 11 overs.

Tushar Bhaduri: No one wanted anything to do with Mark Wood. After he got the footholes sorted, the England speedster proceeded to sort out the Delhi Capitals top order. He first set up Prithvi Shaw, who had looked in good touch against everyone else, but wouldn't have encountered pace like this in recent times. After softening him up with a few short balls, Wood gave him a 147kmph length ball, which the  flat-footed Shaw could only flail at, seeing his off-stump pegged back. 
Mitchell Marsh had been in terrific form in the recent ODI series against India, but going for an expansive drive off his first ball against someone of Wood's speed was much too ambitious. His furniture was promptly re-aaranged.
Even the experienced David Warner was anxious to get to the other end. Sarfaraz Khan, the domestic run machine, was also found wanting against Wood. He can't be blamed, as such pace is rare on the first-class circuit. Sarfaraz tried an ungainly ramp against a sharp bouncer aimed at his face, and the resultant shot provided an easy catch at fine leg. It is safe to assume that neither Sarfaraz nor his father would be too pleased with the shot. It also proved that whatever be the format of the game, 'pace is pace, yaar'. 

Rilee Rossouw switches gears, Bishnoi offers him the width and the left-hander slices it through the covers for four off the first ball. Two singles off two deliveries later, a slightly fullish delivery, clamped down the ground for another four. The leggie has lost his length. Offers a full toss and is mauled over square leg, just about, for a six. Good over that for Delhi, 17 off it. 75/3 after 10.

Mark Wood taken off. With two left-handers in the middle, captain KL Rahul has introduced off-spinners from both the ends. Krishnappa Gowtham from the other one. From 40/0 after four overs to just the 13 runs off the next four at the loss of three wickets, the required rate pressure has clamped down on the visitors. All the credit to that ridiculous Wood spell. Two overs, three runs and three wickets. 58/3 after nine overs. The umpire signals for strategic time out.

Ravi Bishnoi takes over from the other end. Pressure amping up on the Capitals. Just the five runs off the latest. Fifty up. 53/3 after eight overs. 141 required off 72 deliveries. 

??????? ????? ????! ?@MAWood33 gets two in two with his fiery pace ??

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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 1, 2023

Mark Wood at it, again! He's brought Test cricket lengths tonight to T20's greatest league. Comes steaming in again. Remember, run rate has been cramped. Bangs it short, Sarfaraz hasn't anticipated how short the ball is going to be, before going for the upper cut. Almost goes down while playing it. The delivery is angled in as well. Carries straight to the fielder at long leg. Delhi three down for 48 after seven overs.

Avesh Khan continues from the other end. Short ball around the off stump to the new batter in and Sarfaraz Khan pulls it over mid-wicket for four. The momentum however is still very much in Lucknow's favor. 47/2 after six overs. End of powerplay.

Tushar Bhaduri: David Warner's recent struggles in Test cricket are well documented, with a concussion and fractured elbow to boot during the recent series against India. Understandably, the Aussie left-hander would have been  a bit jittery and anxious as he began his IPL campaign. He was trying to hit every ball too hard, camping on the back foot, and trying to thrash everything. Out came an attempted reverse slap off Krishnappa Gowtham, which didn't work either. It helped that Prithvi Shaw was looking good at the other end, but once he and Mitchell Marsh went off successive deliveries, the Delhi Capitals skipper became the key man for his side.

With the crowd behind him and a hattrick for the taking, Mark Wood comes steaming and delivers a short one, almost slipping while doing so. Ducked by Sarfaraz Khan. David Warner reviews for a no-ball. Second short one of the over, no ball it is. No runs come off the bat in the over. 42/2 after five overs.

Two in two! Mitchell Marsh cleaned up. MARK WOOD IS ON A HATTRICK. TAKE A BOW. That one was almost as quick as the last one and the Aussie looking for a straight drive down the ground is left holding the pose as the English pacer celebrates and wows the Lucknow crowd. 

Mark Wood comes and brings with him the arsenal much needed at this phase of the innings. A typical bouncer lined across the leg stump for Prithvi Shaw, who half ducks, half pulls it. To no avail. A delivery later, a 147/3 kph angled in cleans Shaw up. Delhi one down for 41!

Avesh Khan is introduced for the evening. A familiar sight of the batter trying to go for big shots but unable to read a two-paced surface returns with the Delhi captain on strike. Just the three runs off the first five balls of the over. The last one is almost chopped on. Length ball, picks a thick inside edge and goes behind for four. 40/0 after four overs.

Krishnappa Gowtham had made instant impact with the bat. A six off the last ball for Lucknow. With the ball, he is pulled over square leg from Prithvi Shaw for four off his first delivery. An lbw appeal off David Warner's reverse sweep attempt, but not review taken. Good call from the LSG skipper as it was missing the leg stump on he impact. The Delhi captain follows it with a pull over mid wicket for four. 33/0 after three overs.

Shaw squeezes between the short third backward point to procure his first boundary of the innings off Jaydev Unadkat. The left-armer goes short and down the middle to Warner, the Aussie pulls him on the backfoot. Another boundary. The outfield is quick. Wide down the leg stump to finish the over, Warner flicks it behind and even Ravi Bishnoi can't stop it from going beyond the boundary ropes. 24/0 after two overs.

Prithvi Shaw and David Warner arrive in the middle to begin Delhi's chase of 194. Kyle Mayers opens the bowling for Lucknow, as he did with the bat. Shaw straightaway off the mark with a single. Warner is offered width from Mayers, and the southpaw lenas onto the delivery perfectly with a four through extra cover. 7/0 after the first over.

Namit Kumar: The Lucknow Super Giants' peculiar use of the newly-introduced impact player option pays off big time. After Ayush Badoni whacked two huge sixes before getting out on the penultimate ball of the innings, Gambhir, Rahul and co. decided to introduce Krishnappa Gowtham into the team to face just one ball.

The right-hander slapped Sakariya for six straight over long on, with the final over going for 22 runs. Gowtham will play a role with the ball and in the field, but if this game ends on a tight note, his one-ball contribution with the bat may be his most significant.

Meanwhile, good news for MI fans. Head coach Mark Boucher confirmed that skipper Rohit Sharma and pacer Jofra Archer are fit for their IPL opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday. Read more on it here.

Impact player introduced by the Delhi Capitals. Aman Khan replaces Khaleel Ahmed. That'll be handy for the second innings. Chetan Sakariya is on for the last over. Two wides and two singles to start with. Ayush Badoni takes him to the cleaners off the third one. A clean sound erupted off the bat just as whacked it over deep mid wicket for a six. A slowe one follows. In the slot, a heave over long on for six. An attempted scoop off the next one is caught behind by Sarfaraz Khan. Badoni departs for 18 off 7 balls. Lucknow have introduced their impact player. Krishnappa Gowtham. One ball left in the innings. He connects off the last one. Over wide long on. A six. 193/6 is where Lucknow finish. 16 maximums, five fours. WOW!

Khaleel Ahmed on for the penultimate over of the innings. Wide outside off, Pooran bulldozes the delivery over wide long off for a maximum. Just over Rovman Powell on the boundary. A delivery later, he smashes a similar delivery, but straight to the fielder at cover. Prithvi Shaw grabs the fireball catch.

Ayush Badoni comes on and pulls straightaway for a four. 14 runs amassed from the over. 171/5, Lucknow after 19 overs.

Mukesh Kumar for his last over of the evening. Lucknow have to be the favorites as of this moment. Average first innings total on this ground has been 151. Average second innings total has been 126. The wicket for the night hasn't been much different from that narrative, except dew coming in. A lot of it in the middle. That may as well be what keeps Delhi happy as they watch Mukesh Kumar wrap up his spell with a seven run over. 157/4 after 18 overs.

Pooran measures the boundary again. This time it's the other left arm pacer, who gets targetted. First up, in the slot and mauled over long on for a six. A slower bouncer off the next one, pulled over mid wicket for four. Krunal Pandya joins the act. A back of a length delivery outside off, nailed over long on for another maximum. 150/4 at the end of the 17th over.

Another good comeback ft. a Delhi Capitals left arm spinner. The chinaman had also faced the full brunt of a rampaging Kyle Mayers. Here though, he manages to keep the over under four runs. 131/4 after 16 overs and the umpire signals for the second strategic timeout.

Nicholas Pooran has barely been in the middle for five minutes, and he decides to take Khaleel Ahmed head on. A flick behind the square on the on side to accumulate a four. A heave over deep mid wicket to bag his first maximum. The left armer wraps the over with a bouncer that bangs the southpaw's helmet. Nothing serious though and the West Indies international continues. 127/4 after 15 overs.

Khaleel Ahmed back into the attack, over the wicket to Marcus Stoinis and he takes one away from the right hander with the angle, Sarfaraz Khan completes the catch behind the wickets. That'll make him feel better after what transpired with the Kyle Mayers drop earlier in the game. Lucknow four down for 117.

Axar Patel with the ball for the last time this evening. Having been tonked left, right and centre during that mad spree of Kyle Mayers fireworks, the left-arm orthodox produced a ripper to clean up the southpaw and has now given only five runs in his last over. 1/38 is not the best of four overs quota but he'll take it. Lucknow, 117/3 after 14 overs.

Marcus Stoinis comes on. Lucknow, in fact both these teams have the luxury of some of the best hitters in the game. The Aussie smears Kuldeep Yadav straight down the ground for a maximum. 11 come off the 13th over. 112/3, Lucknow.

Namit Kumar: KL Rahul - along with most other right-handed top-order Indian batsman - has shown a particular weakness against left-arm seam in the recent past. Those woes continued after a laboured start, managing 8 off 12 balls, before losing his wicket to Chetan Sakariya - the fourth time in four IPL innings against him.
Rahul fell for the bait. After Sakariya delivered a few full-ish balls outside off, one of which Rahul smashed for six over long-on, he bowled a slower one on the pads, keeping his line straighter and length shorter. Rahul flicked the ball straight into the hands of deep backward square-leg.
Kyle Mayers has picked up the pace against spinners, but Rahul's T20 Powerplay problems persist, as it left LSG 30-1 after the first six overs.

100 up for Lucknow. Axar Patel back on, and he produces an absolute jaffa to remove the danger man. Kyle Mayers (73 off 38), looking to cut, is cleaned up. That one ripped off the pitch and Axar has his revenge. Quite the celebration follows. 100/3.

With Mayers firing on all cylinders, Hooda (17 off 18) looks to open his arms as well. Tries to go inside out against Kuldeep Yadav but he hasn't found the right connection there. Caught by David Warner at wide long off. Second wicket for Delhi. 98/2 after 11 overs.

After a dodgy start in the middle and having earned a lifeline following a drop at short third, Kyle Mayers has taken the matters into his own hands. On his IPL debut. The southpaw has got the best out of his matchup against the two Delhi left arm spinners. Kuldeep goes. Axar comes back. A slog sweep over midwicket for six. A pure smack straight down the ground for another. 16 come off the over. Lucknow, 89/1 after 10 overs.

"I think there should be legal implications when you hit the ball that hard," goes Ian Bishop in the comm box. Kyle Mayers swats Kuldeep Yadav for a maximum over deep backward square leg for a six off the next ball. A first IPL fifty for the southpaw, on his league debut. 

Kyle Mayers again. Axar Patel comes on for Delhi. A back foot punch through extra cover for four followed by an exquisite sweep for a maximum. Fifty up for Lucknow. Delhi have been sloppy in the field. Rovman Powell, the latest in the bloopers reel. 60/1 after eight overs. Umpire signals the strategic timeout.

Khaleel Ahmed would probably be feeling the lowest in Lucknow at the moment. Just an over ago, he had dropped Kyle Mayers off an absolute sitter at short third. Here he is, the soutpaw, measuring the boundary twice off Mukesh Kumar's third over. Two gigantic maximums. 16 come off it. Lucknow are 46/1 after seven overs.

Dear me! Khaleel Ahmed drops an absolute sitter at short third off Chetan Sakariya, who can't believe the same. An attemped upper cut from Kyle Mayers that picks up a thick edge, carries slowly towards the left armer, who drops it almost in slow motion. The fielding from Delhi has been below par as of yet. Five off that over. Lucknow, 30/1 after six overs.

Miscued pulls, inside edges, this wicket ain't giving anything to the batters. Another economical over from Delhi this powerplay. Mukesh Kumar in his second over - from the other end - concedes only six. Kyle Mayers has been in the middle for five overs now and is yet to figure out the pace. Does seem two paced. 25/1 after five overs.

Chetan Sakariya. The run rate pressure may have gotten on the Lucknow captain's head there. He had already nailed a maximum, a first of the game early in the over. The left-armer had already dismissed Rahul thrice before in the IPL. Make that four. Length ball, slower, on the leg stump, placed straight to the fielder at deep backward square leg. 19/1 after four overs.

Khaleel continues. Kyle Mayers was itching to go for some pulls and whacks since the last over and he finds just the delivery to do so. Short on the pads from the left armer, and he swats it behind square on the on side for four. The next ball is full on the middle and leg and the southpaw loses his shape while going at it. Not an easy surface this to whack on. That much is very clear so far. 12/0 after three.

Mukesh Kumar was bought by the Delhi Capitals for 5 Crore INR in the 2023 auction. Only fair they bring him on early in their first game. Not a batting paradise this as suggested from that Rovman Powell with the broadcasters. "I didn't like the wicket to be honest," he tells Simon Doull on air. The surface living up to this venue's 151 as the average first innings score reputation. Both the openers are yet to free their hands. Five runs from that over. 6/0 after two.

Left arm quick from over the wicket. The first one to Rahul, shaps away and brings a single. With Mayers on strike up next, Khaleel gets it to come in and shape away from the southpaw after pitching. Just the first ball single comes off the over. 1/0, Lucknow.

Lucknow captain, KL Rahul takes the strike. Khaleel Ahmed has been handed the new ball for Delhi. The countdown is over. Off we go in match number three of IPL 2023!

Right then, Lucknow have been asked 'pehle aap' from David Warner after the Delhi Capitals captain won the toss and put the home team in to bat first. No Quinton de Kock for Lucknow as was known before the toss. West Indies' swashbuckling batter Kyle Mayers has got his first get go for the franchise to open alongside captain KL Rahul. Not a packed venue at the moment, but the numbers are still coming in. The two sets of LSG openers walk in the middle as the Delhi side form a huddle around their captain. David Warner answered in the affirmative when asked if captaining Delhi was his own homecoming, given that he started his IPL journey with the Daredevils franchise. For KL Rahul and Co, it is a homecoming, their first IPL game in their city. Who'll have the last laugh? Exciting night in the brewing.

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan.

Delhi Capitals: David Warner(c), Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan(w), Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar.

Last night's game may have confused someone watching from afar as to which side was the home favorite. That's what MS Dhoni does to most home fans. But on matchday two, just as the mic was handed from David Warner to KL Rahul after the toss, the Lucknow crowd did not miss on making it clear that their allegiance is towards their skipper. With the pressure on him in the Indian colors, this IPL 2023 and the home games may as well be what Rahul needs to shut the proverbial noise around. 

David Warner: Going to have a bowl. For us it's about trying to assess conditions early and knowing what to chase. It can be quite confusing, maybe stressful at times (impact player). I'm excited to be back. We send our best out to Rishabh. We're excited to play in front of such a big crowd. To play in front of the fans. It's all about them and us trying to entertain them.

KL Rahul: That's how most IPL teams work. They want to make their home ground their fortress. We're as clueless as the opposition. We haven't played here. We're going in with no expectations. For all you know, it might be a good batting wicket. It's new (impact player). Still getting used to it. It gives teams a chance to be in the game or come back in the game.