Kuldeep Yadav was in sensational form, returning with figures of 3/20 in Delhi Capitals’ six-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2024 fixture, on Friday. Kuldeep took the key wickets of KL Rahul (39), Marcus Stoinis (8) and Nicholas Pooran (0) as DC restricted LSG to 167/7 in 20 overs. Ayush Badoni top-scored for DC with an unbeaten knock of 55 runs off 35 balls. Meanwhile, Khaleel Ahmed bagged two dismissals for Delhi.
Chasing 168, DC raced to 170/4 in 18.1 overs courtesy of a half-century from Jake Fraser-McGurk (55). Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant smacked 41 off 24 balls. For LSG’s bowling department, Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets.
Speaking on JioCinema, England legend Eoin Morgan called Kuldeep ‘the difference’ in the match, praising his impact on the result. “Kuldeep Yadav was the difference between DC and LSG. The wickets that he took, KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, two big players for LSG and that’s exactly what you want. The impact that he has made after coming back from injury is absolutely priceless,” he said.
“In many ways, DC can put their win down to him tonight. So brilliant performance again reiterating the role of a wrist-spinner in the middle phases of the game,” he further added.
After the win, DC are now ninth in the IPL 2024 points table with four points in six matches (two wins and four defeats). Meanwhile, LSG are fourth, with six points in five games (three wins and two defeats).
After the match, Kuldeep thanked Patrick Farhart for helping him with his fitness and also spoke about his bowling plan. “Was tough when I wasn’t fit. Got injured first game and was difficult to see the team struggling in the middle overs. Credit goes to Patrick (Farhart) to maintain my fitness and get me ready quickly. All three were important wickets, it was crucial to get wickets in the middle overs to control the run rate. I liked the first and second wicket, I have played a lot against Pooran and the execution for that was right,” he said.
“I was clear with my plans, just the length matters for me as a spinner. Very clear and confident with my skills. Whenever I feel the DRS call is 50/50, I try to push for it but when it is more 60/40 then I tend to listen to Rishabh. As a bowler, you obviously want to take the DRS whenever possible. We’ve got 2 reviews, so obviously one is for me (laughs off),” he added.
