The new impact rule is a tactic that franchises will perfect in time. But shrewd tactician and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir stunned everyone when he sent the impact player on the last ball of the innings at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. The move paid off as Krishnappa Gowtham finished the innings with a massive six.
Had Gowtham not gone out to bat, LSG's choices were Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan. All four batters are capable of hitting the long ball but Gambhir trusted Gowtham to face the last ball of the innings bowled by Chetan Sakariya.
Gowtham replaced Ayush Badoni who had lost his wicket on the penultimate ball of the innings. Badoni contributed with a 7-ball 18 cameo which included one four and two sixes.
Earlier, before the 19th over had been bowled, Delhi Capitals (DC) had introduced Aman Khan as their impact player by replacing left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed.
Hosts LSG ended up posting 193/6 after David Warner won the toss and opted to field first. On-debut Kyle Mayers turned out to be the top run-scorer for LSG with 38-ball 73 which was studded with seven sixes. Apart from Mayers, wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran and Badoni contributed with cameos to post a challenging total.
Later, Gowtham contributed with the ball as well. The right-arm off-spinner was economical as he conceded just 23 runs from his quota of four overs.
“I thought we were 30 runs above par. The way Kyle (Mayers) batted. We took an aggressive approach against the spinners and put them under pressure. I thought they started well, but we came back well,” skipper Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
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