Twin fifties from Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh followed by a valiant effort from our bowlers went in vain as we succumbed to a heartbreaking defeat against Delhi Capitals in our IPL 2025 campaign opener in Visakhapatnam on Monday, March 24.

Put in to bat, our boys rode on Pooran’s 75 off just 30 balls and Marsh’s 36-ball 72 to post 209/8 in our allotted overs.

Later, our bowlers reduced the Capitals to 113/6 in 12.3 overs before Ashutosh Sharma (66 not out) and Vipraj Nigam (39) guided them to a thrilling victory.

Marsh, Markram provide brilliant start

Earlier, our new opening pair Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram got us off to a flying start. Marsh and Markram smashed some scintillating boundaries in the powerplay to put the DC bowlers under pressure.

Our swashbuckling duo added 46 runs for the opening wicket before Markram departed for 15.

Pooran, Marsh slam blitzkrieg fifties

Following Markram’s dismissal, Nicholas Pooran joined Marsh at the crease. Marsh continued his attacking approach as he clobbered the bowlers to all parts of the ground to notch up his fifty off just 21 balls.

Pooran soon joined the party as he slammed leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam for three huge sixes to accumulate 25 runs in the seventh over. Meanwhile, our Caribbean star completed 600 sixes in his illustrious T20 career.

Marsh and Pooran's impressive 87-run stand ended in the 12th over as our Australian all-rounder was dismissed for a 36-ball 72.

Later in the following over, Pooran brought up his half-century off just 24 balls. Our flamboyant southpaw hammered Tristan Stubbs for four consecutive maximums and one four to amass 28 runs from the over.

Miller's cameo guides us to 209

However, we soon succumbed to huge blows as our captain Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran fell in quick succession. Pooran's sensational knock was laced with six fours and seven sixes. We lost momentum in the final few overs as Ayush Badoni, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed and Ravi Bishnoi departed cheaply.

At the other end, our dashing southpaw David Miller played a crucial cameo of 27 runs off 19 balls to help us post 209/8 in our 20 overs.

Thakur, Siddharth strike early

Defending 210, our star all-rounder Shardul Thakur provided us with early breakthroughs as he dismissed Jake Fraser-McGurk (1) and Abishek Porel (0) in the opening over.

Left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth soon removed Sameer Rizvi to reduce the Capitals to 7/3.

LSG bowlers continue to pick regular wickets

Our mystery spinner Digvesh Rathi later bagged his first IPL wicket to dismiss opposition captain Axar Patel in the sixth over.

In the very next over, our spin wizard Ravi Bishnoi claimed the massive wicket of Faf du Plessis (29) to put us in a great position.

Our bowlers continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals as Siddharth produced a peach of a delivery to bamboozle Tristan Stubbs (34) in the 13th over.

Heartbreaking defeat in Visakhapatnam

Struggling at 113/6, Vipraj Nigam walked in to bat and joined Ashutosh Sharma at the crease. The Capitals' duo then stitched a brilliant partnership for the seventh wicket to bring the Capitals back into the game.

Digvesh Rathi ended their 55-run partnership as he removed Vipraj for 34. Bishnoi then claimed his second wicket of the match as he dismissed Starc to reduce DC to 171/8.

Despite losing Kuldeep Yadav in the penultimate over, Ashutosh produced a match-winning knock of unbeaten 66 off 31 balls to power the Capitals to a nail-biting win.

What next for the Super Giants?

Our boys will now be aiming to bounce back against SunRisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, March 27.

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 209/8 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 75, Mitchell Marsh 72; Mitchell Starc 3/42) lost to Delhi Capitals 211/9 in 19.3 overs (Ashutosh Sharma 66 not out, Vipraj Nigam 39; Shardul Thakur 2/19) by one wicket.