Delhi Capitals (DC) pulled off a thrilling one-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 4 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Monday (March 24).
Impact Player Ashutosh Sharma (66* off 31) starred with the bat, coming in at 65/5 while chasing 210 and producing a memorable partnership with Vipraj Nigam (39 off 15) to help DC get over the line in 19.3 overs.
Following the game, DC vice-captain Faf du Plessis said the finish reminded of him of a classic South Africa versus Australia clash back in 2006.
Faf further stated that when DC needed six in five balls, the single that Mohit Sharma took was the "most important" of his life and reminded him of the single that former Proteas pacer Makhaya Ntini took to put Mark Boucher on strike to hit the winning runs during a historic 435-run-chase at Johannesburg.
"Unbelievable, it reminded me a little bit of the 438 game against Australia when Makhaya [Ntini] got that important single towards the end. That is probably the best and most important single that Mohit Sharma has ever taken in his life - beautiful forward defence, just pushing it into the gap. What a story to get the big man back on strike to hit it for six," said Faf in the post-match interview.
The DC deputy also gave positive verdict on the Impact Player rule, saying that is there for matches like these where a team is "completely dead and buried".
"A lot of the cricketers, if you ask them, they would complain about the [Impact Player] rule in the IPL," du Plessis said, "but this is obviously why that rule is there - for games when you think that you're completely dead and buried, someone comes in and plays like that. I'm definitely going to drink some more masala tea to make sure I can hit the ball like the boys do at the end.
"To be honest, when I looked at the wicket and saw how much the ball was gripping and losing five wickets, I thought it was going to be an almost impossible task. But it's even great for the old brain of mine just to make sure that you can never be out of a game completely. The extra batter really makes a big difference."
Faf du Plessis lauded the exploits of uncapped Indian duo -- Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam -- on a pitch that he claimed was not an easy one.
"As an overseas player, one thing that is remarkable for me to watch is the number of Indian players that are so powerful and they got the ability to just strike the ball so easily. It was not an easy pitch. There was a lot going on, but the two boys at the back end there, just the way they came in and just effortless hitting boundaries," he remarked.
