DC vs LSG

Ashutosh Sharma (Player of the Match, Delhi Capitals): I have learned this in the last year, got the team close but couldn't end it. Throughout the season, I focussed on the same and that is why I was able to close this match out on such a stage. I believed in myself that if I played till the end game, I could do anything. Just believe where you can hit the ball and play the shots that you have practiced. He played a fine knock, I told him if you are getting it right, keep hitting. There wasn't much pressure and the hard we had put in before and we have got the fruit of it now. Dedicate this to my mentor Shikhar paaji

Axar Patel (captain, Delhi Capitals): Get used to it, anything could happen in my captaincy. I make random decisions, but with the way I have played IPL over the years, I know anything could happen. Cricket has changed, you need to apply yourself according to the situation. Haven't seen bowlers take a beating, started around last year, and with the Impact Players it is an added incentive to the batting side. You do not think you are going to be hit and things could go either way. The way their first six overs went I thought we gave away a bit too much, but we did well in the last 7 overs to give away 40-odd runs. We thought they would score 240-250, but then when they scored 200, we were confident. (For youngsters like Ashutosh and Vipraj Nigam) We have been organizing a camp for the week and we have been seeing them put in the hard work. We have seen him play well and hopefully he comes well in the future games

Faf du Plessis: First of all what you reckon of the new kit. Amazing game of cricket. Lot of cricketers would complaint the new rule but this obviously the rule is there. When you are absolutely dead and buried, there is someone who can come and win the game. Looked at the wicket and saw the ball was gripping. I thought it was going to be almost an impossible start. The extra batter is a huge plus. The amount of Indian players that are so powerful and can hit easily. The two boys who came in the end, it was effortless hitting. He remained of the 438 when Makhaya Ntini took the single. Most important single Mohit Sharma has taken to give strike to Ashutosh to finish the match. Lots of life in the old dog, there is a lot of movement now as far as IPL. New challenge here, really good chapter for me. The last chapter for me however long the chapter is I will cherish that.

Rishabh Pant (LSG captain): The runs were enough on the board. We might have lost the momentum in the middle overs but I felt it was a great sixes. We are trying to take the positives from each and every game and make it count in the next game. It's easy to say that all went wrong. We had to keep doing the basics right. They had to two good partnerships. Stubbs, Ashutosh and Vipraj which helped. We could have done the basic more. It was difficult to bowl in the second innings but we could have bowled better. No definitely, luck plays a batter. If it would have missed the pad, definitely there would have been a stumping chance but we can't really say what luck holds.

11:19 PM Local time and IST: Delhi Capitals beat Lucknow Super Giants by 1 wicket

Delhi Capitals: 211/9 in 19.3 overs

Ashutosh Sharma: 66(31b)* | Digvesh Singh: 2/31 (4 overs)
Vipraj Nigam: 39(15b) | Shardul Thakur: 2/19 (2 overs)

A CLASSIC IPL HUMDINGER! Breathe ladies and gentlemen, let the adrenaline levels come down. Let your heart relax after it was racing all throughout. Delhi Capitals have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, while Lucknow Super Giants stood there all this while, making inroad after inroad but standing with loss next to their name and efforts in vain.

Where to we start? 210 was always going to be a competitive total to chase down and the start for DC was unforgiving, with Shardul Thakur doing an equivalent of Gayle vs KKR 2011 and picking up two wickets against his former IPL franchise. Wickets fell at regular intervals, with Sameer Rizvi falling cheaply and Axar Patel being caught in the deep.

Faf, another experienced batter at the other end, did a fine job of scoring runs despite wickets falling around him. He too became a victim, succumbing to the scoring rate and DC reeling on 65/5 and then to 113/6 with Stubbs walking back. Enter Vipraj Nigam and Ashutosh Sharma, Delhi's heroes for this contest. Together, the pair put together 55 runs in 22 deliveries before the latter was dismissed.

More drama ensured as Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav lost their wickets at regular intervals. But Ashutosh, standing without a helmet at the other end, was going through all the calculations of the chase on his end. When 6 were needed, Mohit Sharma survived a very close LBW shout. He then tucked the ball around and picked up the single that tilted the game in DC's favor by a bit. As fate would have it, Ashutosh thumped it down the ground and ended the game as DC romped home with a one-wicket win.

One's got to feel for DC, who are without their premier bowlers but still did a very good job. Shardul Thakur did a very good job, picking up two wickets. So did Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Singh and Ravi Bishnoi. However, runs leaking all the time off the bowling of Bishnoi, Prince Yadav and Shahbaz Ahamed was what cost them in the end of the contest.

19.3 Shahbaz Ahamad to Ashutosh Sharma, SIX! Ashutosh Sharma has finished it off in style!!! They were absolutely dead and buried at one stage but he has pulled off the unthinkable! Was in the slot around the middle stump channel, clears his front leg and slams it back over the bowler's head, lands on the sightscreen and DC win by 1 wicket. What an incredible turnaround!

19.2 Shahbaz Ahamad to Mohit Sharma, on a fuller-length around off, eased away defensively towards the point fielder, fumble from the fielder allows Ashutosh to retain the strike back. 5 needed off 4. 

Harakiri, drama, everything happening on that delivery. That one is missing the stumps quite comfortably. Mohit survives but needs to get Ashutosh on strike. 6 runs needed off 5 balls here

19.1 Shahbaz Ahamad to Mohit Sharma, that's a splendid delivery from Shahbaz and Rishabh has taken review for an LBW. A flighted delivery pitching on a fuller-length around middle and turns away sharply, deceives Mohit in the air and he gets overbalances, strikes him on the back leg but replays confirm that it was turning past the off-stump and Mohit survives. 

18.6 Prince Yadav to Ashutosh Sharma, FOUR! This is a knock for the ages for Ashutosh, a low full toss around the middle stump channel, slammed away with a vertical bat, finds the gap down towards the deep midwicket boundary. 6 needed off 6 now.