South African pacer Anrich Nortje had a forgettable night for Delhi Capitals (DC) during their match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season in Mumbai on Thursday (April 7).
Making his first appearance in this edition of the IPL, the star was taken out of Delhi's bowling attack after he bowled two beamers against LSG. The 16th over was then given to spinner Kuldeep Yadav to complete, and the former KKR player took the crucial wicket of opener Quinton de Kock after getting hit for two boundaries in the same over.
Nortje's first beamer came in the 14th over, which de Kock managed to lift over short third for six. Deepak Hooda was the recipient of the second one in the 16th over when the pacer bowled an above waist-high ball. Nortje was eventually taken off, having gone wicketless for 36 in 2.2 overs.
Earlier in the game, the right-arm fast bowler faced the wrath of fellow countryman De Kock and conceded 19 runs in the fifth over of the match. The Proteas wicketkeeper-batter played a fantastic knock, scoring 80 runs off 52 balls before being dismissed by Kuldeep.
As per ICC Law 41.7.4: "Should there be any further dangerous such delivery by the same bowler in that innings, the umpire shall call and signal No ball, when the ball is dead, direct the captain of the fielding side to suspend the bowler immediately from bowling, inform the other umpire for the reason for this action."
Nortje struggled to grip the wet ball as dew came in to play in the second innings. Last year, Nortje was retained for Rs 6.5 crore before the IPL mega auction ahead of Kagiso Rabada.
Sent in to bat first, and boosted by the return of Australian David Warner, DC posted 149 runs on the scoreboard. Their top-scorer was Prithvi Shaw, who slammed 61 off 34 balls before being dismissed by Krishnappa Gowtham.
LSG then came back strong with the ball, led by young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who picked up two wickets for just 22 runs.
After a mini-collapse of their top order, the onus fell on skipper Rishabh Pant (39 not out in 36 balls) to take the team to a respectable total. He did that in the company of Sarfaraz Khan (36 not out in 28 balls) who was playing his debut game for the Delhi-based franchise.
