Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mark Wood's sensational five-wicket haul stunned Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2023 match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The Englishman's lethal bowling was too much for Delhi as he helped restrict them to 143/9 in their chase of 194. Wood was well-supported by a swashbuckling knock from West Indies all-rounder Kyle Mayers, who smashed a blistering 73 off 38 balls, and cameos from Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni, as Lucknow finished with 193/6 on the board.
Wood, who was playing only his second IPL match, set the tone early on in Delhi's innings by removing their opener Prithvi Shaw and middle-order batsman Mitchell Marsh with back-to-back deliveries. He went on to pick up three more wickets to finish with figures of 5/14, which was the first fifer of the IPL 2023 season.
Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel showered praise on Wood and applauded the plans he executed to rattle Delhi batters. Patel said, "We must applaud Mark Wood's plans and the way he dismissed Prithvi Shaw. You are given 24 balls in total and taking five wickets in a T20 match is equivalent to scoring 100 runs."
Apart from Wood, Lucknow's Kyle Mayers was the star of the show with his explosive batting. He scored 73 runs off just 38 balls, which included five fours and six sixes. Mayers was well-supported by cameos from Pooran and Badoni, who scored 36 and 18 runs respectively.
Former Chennai Super Kings player Suresh Raina praised Mayers and the way Pooran and Badoni finished the game. Raina said, "The way Mayers was hitting the ball, powerful shots off Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who are both very successful bowlers, was truly admirable. In spite of that, the way Badoni and Nicholas Pooran finished the game, with these small cameos helped them get from 155 runs to near 190 runs."
With this win, Lucknow Super Giants have opened their account in IPL 2023 and will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next match on Monday. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals will play their first home game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium against defending champions Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.