IPL 2023: Wood five-for, Mayers 73 helps Lucknow Super Giants floor Delhi Capitals

The Impact Player may be the flavour of the 2023 IPL, but Lucknow Super Giants were happy their X-Factor, England fast bowler Mark Wood, rendered that role unnecessary with a five-for after Kyle Mayers smashed a 38-ball 78. The result was a 50-run victory over Delhi Capitals at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Only in January, the Lucknow pitch had come in for severe criticism for its sluggishness after India's six-wicket T20 international win over New Zealand. Such apprehensions among the ground staff were largely unfounded.

LSG, asked to bat first by DC skipper David Warner, piled up 193/6 before Wood ran through the DC batting as they finished on 143/9. It took their head-to-head record to 3-0 in as many as outings in two seasons. LSG play their next home match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 7.

Chasing a mammoth target of 194, Delhi Capitals never got going and crumbled to Wood's liquid pace. Wood took the first five-wicket haul of the new IPL season with 5/14. DC skipper David Warner fought a lone battle with a well-made 56 in 47 balls with the help of seven fours. Both Prithvi Shaw and Warner started well, stitching together 41 runs in just 27 balls, but once Wood came into bowl, it turned out to be a different story for the visitors.

Wood took back-to-back wickets in his first over, reducing DC to 48/3 in the seventh over. First, he uprooted the middle stump of Shaw (12, 9b, 2x4) and then repeated it against Mitchell Marsh, who was gone first delivery.

Sarfaraz Khan (4 - 9b, 1x4) too was foxed by Wood's well-pitched bouncer, giving an easy catch to Gowtham at fine-leg boundary, and then Axar Patel (16 - 11b, 1x4, 1x6) before sealing the deal for LSG with the wicket of Chetan Sakariya (4) in his last over.

Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi and fast bowler Avesh Khan too came up with some fine bowling performances, sharing four wickets. Bishnoi removed Rilee Rossouw (30 - 20b, 3x4, 1x6) and then trapped Rovman Powell (1) in front to leave DC reeling at 96/5 in 14 overs. Thereafter, Khan had 'Impact Player' Aman Hakik Khan (4) and then skipper David Warner, who tried his best but in vain.

Considering the poor start they got, it was an extremely pleasant outcome at the end for LSG, who posted 194 after Mayers produced a sensational knock even after skipper KL Rahul fell off the last ball of the third over, offering a straight catch to Axar Patel off at fine leg off Chetan Sakariya. He made eight, including a six.

Mayers continued to entertain a huge crowd, hitting as many as seven sixes and two fours before being bowled by Patel in the 12th over. By then LSG were on course for a big total with scoreboard reading 100. Mayer's 69-run second wicket stand with Deepak Hooda (17, 18b) in 30 balls challenged DC's game plan after they chose to field.

Nicholas Pooran, who also kept wicket in the absence of Quinton de Kock, too hit a quickfire 36 in 21 balls, which contained three sixes and two blazing boundaries before edging a catch to Prithvi Shaw off Khaleel Ahmed.

Warner accepted it was a challenge to chase such a big total. "It was a bit of a challenge. We had some early momentum with the fast bowlers. They bowled very well in the Powerplay," he said after the match. "

"Nobody means to drop catches and a little bit of momentum shifted there but you can't take it away from the Lucknow team. They batted very well there on a wicket that I thought 170 was par. They did an exceptional job," he said, adding, "It's a big thing, momentum in this game. We talk about building partnerships, but you can't take it away from Wood. He's an exceptional bowler and he showed his true talent and experience tonight."

"I felt like you were bowling on two different surfaces from either end. For us it's about going back to the drawing board. For us it's one game. We go back to Delhi in front of our home crowd."