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Ashutosh Sharma played a memorable innings for Delhi Capitals that brought them back from the dead and seal a one-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants.
Ashutosh Sharma (right) celebrates after hitting match-winning six. (AP Photo)
Ashutosh Sharma pulled off a heist for his new IPL franchise Delhi Capitals with a blistering half-century to secure a thrilling one-wicket over Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday night. DC, in a mammoth chase of 210 in Vizag, were in tatters at 65/5 when seasoned Faf du Plessis holed out on 29.
In walked Ashutosh and together Tristan Stubbs (34 off 22) kickstarted comeback. However, M Siddarth broke the alliance with the scalp of Stubbs to leave DC at 113/6.
And then Ashutosh found another able partner in Vipraj Nigam (39) to revive the chase.
DC kept losing wicket at one end, but Ashutosh was a man on a mission, and he struck a six in the final over to take his team over the line. He remained unbeaten on 66 off 31.
Ashutosh, who first made his name for Punjab Kings after finishing a few games for the franchise last year, but he was released later on ahead of the IPL mega auctions.
The batter was not satisfied with his season and therefore, directed his focus on how to improve his skills further.
“Missed out on finishing the game on a couple of occasions in the previous season. The whole year I focussed and visualised it. Had the belief that if I play till the last over, anything can happen,” Ashutosh said.
“Well played to Vipraj. I asked him to keep hitting. He was very calm under pressure. Want to dedicate this award to my mentor Shikhar (Dhawan) paaji,” he added.
The 26-year-old isn’t going to sit on his laurels and knows that constant improvement is the only way forward to advance his career.
“Last year was really good but that’s history for me. I have taken the positives from there and worked on myself, to improve whatever weaknesses I had. I’m applying what I did in domestic cricket,” he said.
Ashutosh was batting alongside no. 11 Mohit Sharma when DC still needed 18 to win off 9 deliveries. He whittled down the equation to six off six thanks to a double, six and a four to close out the 19th over, bowled by Prince Yadav.
Off the first delivery of the final over, DC had a stroke of luck when Rishabh Pant missed out on a stumping chance to remove Mohit Sharma who then took a single off the next to give the strike to Ashutosh.
“I was confident. It’s part of the game. Whether it’s an appeal or not a run. It wasn’t part of my batting, so I was confident that if he took a single, I would be able to hit a six. I was really confident about my ability,” said Ashutosh after hitting a six to seal the deal.
- Location :
Visakhapatnam, India, India
