Kuldeep Yadav damages stump permanently with ball for the ages to bamboozle Nicholas Pooran, gets KL Rahul next over

Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Pooran for a golden duck

What difference does Kuldeep Yadav make to the Delhi Capitals bowling unit? He needed just three balls against the Luckow Super Giants to answer the question. Returning to the side after missing three consecutive matches due to a groin injury, Kuldeep struck twice in his first over against LSG to prove his value. The left-arm wrist spinner got the wickets of Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran in the 8th over of the match on Friday. The ball that he bowled to clean up Pooran would have made any spinner proud.

Sensing a big shot from Stoinis, Kuldeep decided to throw it wide to the Australian all-rounder and it did the trick. Stoinis went for an almighty heave but ended up getting a top edge. Ishant Sharma at short third made no mistake. In walked Pooran, one of LSG’s best batters of this season, who is striking at 168 this year.

Little did the attacking left-hander know that Kuldeep would dish out an absolute ripper. It was the perfect googly that pitched just outside Pooran’s off stump. The LSG batter didn’t read it from the hand. He played for the turn and the ball cannoned into his stump. The West Indies batter had to walk back for a golden duck.

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The delivery also left the permanently damaged and time out was called for to replace it.

Kuldeep Yadav dismisses Nicholas Pooran with a dream delivery

Kuldeep wasn’t done. He nearly got LSG captain KL Rahul off the last ball of his first over but the ball pitched a tad outside the line. But he completed the unfinished job in his next over. Kuldeep bowled a flatter delivery which was turning away from Rahul. The right-hander went at it with hard hands and got an under edge. It was given not out on field and Rishabh Pant immediately sent it upstairs.

Replays showed there was a clear edge and Rahul had to take the long walk back. If Pooran’s wicket was important, this one was the turning point in the context of the match as Rahul was well set and hitting well.

Earlier, Khaleel Ahmed struck twice with the new ball to send back Quinton de Kock and Devdutt Padikkal after LSG opted to bat.

Delhi Capitals XI: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed.

Lucknow Super Giants XI: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Arshad Khan.

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