‘Brilliant Mohsin’

Lucknow Super Giants’ Mohsin Khan celebrates the wicket of DC’s David Warner yesterday. Pics/BCCI; IPL

Mohsin Khan is turning out to be a revelation for Lucknow Super Giants. The 23-year-old Uttar Pradesh lad was once again the star as LSG beat Delhi Capitals by six runs, a show that took the IPL newbies to second spot on the points table. It was their seventh win in 10 outings and are four points adrift of table-toppers Gujarat Titans. Mohsin, whose last two match figures were 4-0-27-1 (v MI) and 4-1-24-3 (v PBKS), finished with 4-0-16-4 against LSG on Sunday.

Rahul, Hooda hit 50s

KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda hit half-centuries to take Lucknow Super Giants to 195-3. Skipper Rahul smashed 77 off 51 balls (4x4s, 5x6s), while Hooda scored 52 off 34 balls (6x4s, 1x6). In reply, Delhi Capitals managed 189-7.

LSG skipper KL Rahul lavished praise on Mohsin. "He has been brilliant. I played him in the nets for the first time a month ago; didn't want to face him, seriously. He was sharp, he's scary at times in the nets. It's not just the pace, he has a good brain, has a bit of skill as well, has a great slower one and he knows when to use them. He is eager to learn and play. Even under pressure, he's bowled some really big overs for us and he's performed for us," said Rahul in the post-match presentation.

KL Rahul reaches his 50

Mohsin's stellar performance could also make the national selectors sit up and take notice and could be on the radar for Team India, who are desperately in search of a good left-arm pacer. Man-of-the-match Mohsin seemed to be the only bowler who knew exactly how to exploit the sluggish Wankhede track. He varied his pace between 115 to 135kmph and that made things all the more difficult for the DC batters.

Every time DC found momentum, Mohsin came on and snatched it. On Sunday, Mohsin maintained his good and short lengths. The left-arm pacer first sent back DC opener David Warner (3), thanks to a difficult catch by Ayush Badoni. While DC skipper Rishabh Pant (44) and Rovman Powell (35) were threatening to take the game away from LSG, Mohsin dismissed both of them and ended their 34-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Pant left a big gap between bat and pad with no footwork at all. Powell perished after holing out at midwicket. The big wicket changed the complexion of the game. LSG's hopes faded with Shardul Thakur's (1) dismissal in a similar manner in the same over. "Mohsin bowled really well. He has been performing brilliantly for us in the last few games. He looks in good shape and his bowling has been winning us matches," said his LSG teammate Ravi Bishnoi in the post-match press conference.

DC's Axar Patel fought a valiant battle, but could not chase 21 runs in the final over. Pant felt it's high time DC start closing games. "It's a hard loss. We have to start winning close games. As a batting unit we need to start converting the 30s, 40s into a big scores," the DC skipper said.

Pant, Marsh entertain

Pant and Mitchell Marsh ensured there was no shortage of fireworks as they counter-attacked brilliantly after losing openers early. First, Pant took Krunal Pandya for 19 runs in his first over, slamming three fours and a six. Jason Holder was welcomed with 17 runs in his first over. Dushmantha Chameera too was taken to the cleaners, going for 17 runs with Marsh's stand-and-deliver pull that went for a six over square leg was a shot to marvel.

K Gowtham broke the entertaining 25-ball 60-run partnership between Marsh and Pant after the Aussie was caught behind. However, replays showed there was no spike when the ball passed the willow, but Marsh refrained from taking the DRS.

08
Number of wickets claimed by Mohsin Khan in 4 IPL-15 games

Brief scores
LSG 195-3 (KL Rahul 77, D Hooda 52; S Thakur 3-40) beat DC 189-7 (R Pant 44, A Patel 42', M Marsh 37, R Powell 35; M Khan 4-16) by 6 runs