Kyle Mayers. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

A sensational 73-run knock from Kyle Mayers and five-fer from Mark Wood helped Lucknow Super Giants begin their campaign with an emphatic 50-run win over Delhi Capitals in the third match of Indian Premier League 2023 at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Speaking about the game, visitors won the toss and opted to field first. Chetan Sakariya drew the first blood by picking up the IPL run machine KL Rahul for 8 runs in the fourth over. The duo of Kyle Mayers and Deepak Hooda together added 79 runs for the second wicket, as Mayers’ toyed with the potent Delhi bowlers with his sublime hitting. 

Mayers amassed 73 runs from 38 balls which included two fours and seven maximums. Kuldeep Yadav broke the partnership with a googly to pick Deepak Hooda, and in the next three balls, Axar Patel cleaned up well-set Kyle Mayers to bring back Delhi in the game.

 A 21-ball 36 runs cameo from Nicholas Pooran along with a 7-ball 18 from Ayush Badoni down the order helped Lucknow post a massive total of 193/6 in 20 overs. For DC, Chetan Sakariya picked up two wickets but was too expensive with 53 runs in his four overs.

In response to 193, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw went off to a brisk start as they put together 41 runs for the first wicket in four overs. Jaydev Unadkat was taken to the cleaners as he conceded 17 runs in his first over.  English speedster Mark Wood rattled the top order with his fiery pace as DC lost three quick wickets in the span of 7 runs. Mark Wood cleaned up the in-form Mitchell Marsh for a golden duck. However, David Warner and Rilee Rossouw kept the chase going with the addition of 38 more runs for the fourth wicket.

Ravi Bishnoi then stuck twice in his consecutive overs as he picked up the important wicket of Rilee Rossouw and Rovman Powell. David Warner kept piling up runs at one end, registering his 56th IPL half-century. Avesh Khan then took the wicket of Warner in the 16th over. Mark Wood completed the proceedings in the last over by registering the first five-wicket haul in IPL 2023 as LSG defeated DC by a margin of 50 runs.

Let us look at the stats and numbers from the third match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals.

1 – Mark Wood became the first bowler to pick a five-wicket haul for LSG in IPL.

2 – Kyle Mayers smashed seven sixes in the innings, which is the second most sixes for an LSG player in IPL innings. Quinton de Kock tops the list with 10 sixes against KKR.

60 – David Warner completed his 60th fifty-plus score which is the most by any player in IPL. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan share the second spot with 49 fifty-plus scores.

50 – Khaleel Ahmed completed 50 IPL wickets in 35 matches, which is the fastest by an Indian bowler in IPL. Amit Mishra occupies the second spot with 37 matches.

3 – Lucknow Super Giants Registered their third consecutive win against Delhi Capitals.

2 – David Warner now has 584 fours in IPL which is the second most fours by a player in IPL, surpassing Kohli’s tally of 578. Shikar Dhawan tops the list with 707 fours.

1 – Lucknow Super Giants became the first team to win an IPL match at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.