Lucknow: The strong performance of the two newest teams of IPL continues from last season. Gujarat Titans won the first match of the new season after winning the title last year. At the same time, in the very first match of IPL 2023, captained by KL Rahul, who finished fourth last year, unilaterally defeated Delhi Capitals by 50 runs. The IPL match played for the first time in Lucknow was memorable for the home team, which was made special by the explosive batting of Kyle Mayers (73) and the lethal pace bowling of Mark Wood (5/14).
The beginning of the season was not good at all for the Delhi Capitals who entered this season without Rishabh Pant. At first his bowlers were thrashed by Kyle Meyers. The fielding of the team was very disappointing on that. Then batsmen like Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell could not make any impact in batting.
Mark Wood wreaks havoc
Delhi expected and needed a big and fast-paced partnership from the opening pair of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw. He also expressed his intentions by scoring 40 runs in the first four overs. Only these four overs remained like this in the entire innings of Delhi, when it seemed that they would achieve the target of 194 runs from Lucknow. Mark Wood’s storm came from the fifth over, which uprooted the stumps of Delhi. The English pacer, who sat out the entire last season due to injury, troubled Shaw by bowling three consecutive short balls in his first over.
Then the next ball was long, in which there was a slight movement and in front of the speed of 147 KMPH, Shaw missed and got bowled. The next ball was exactly the same and the same happened to Mitchell Marsh. In the next over, Wood again got Sarfaraz Khan caught at third man on the bouncer.
Although David Warner (56) kept trying for a long time, he also could not increase the pace of runs in the midst of falling wickets. Apart from Mark Wood, Avesh Khan also made an impact, who made Warner his victim. At the same time, Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets with his leg spin. Wood, who took 3 wickets in 3 overs, also took 2 wickets in the last over of the innings and became the first bowler in IPL 2023 to take 5 wickets.
Kyle Meyers Super Show
This match was very special for Lucknow Super Giants. This team, captained by KL Rahul, came to play for the first time at its home ground Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium. However, Captain Rahul’s start in this season was also bad like last season and could score only 8 runs. However, the fans of Lucknow, who came in the hope of seeing Rahul’s strong batting, did not have to be disappointed as Kyle Meyers created excitement by taking out the smoke of Delhi bowlers.
Meyers, who was making his debut in IPL, was dropped by Khaleel Ahmed for 14 runs and was punished with 7 sixes. Meyers laid the foundation of Lucknow’s big score by scoring 73 runs in just 36 balls.
Puran-Badoni’s finishing touches
When Meyers was dismissed in the 12th over, the score was 100 runs, out of which 73 runs were from the Windies batsman. After this, Nicholas Pooran of the West Indies, who became a part of Lucknow for 16 crores, batted very fast. Puran scored 36 runs in just 21 balls, while young batsman Ayush Badoni, who made his mark last season, again took the team to 193 runs by playing a short but quick innings. In the last over, Badoni hit two consecutive sixes and was dismissed on the fifth ball. After this, the impact player Krishnappa Gautam, who came to the crease, sent the last ball for a six.
