After defending a total of more than 160, the Lucknow Super Giants lost the 26th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time. Delhi Capitals easily amassed 168 runs owing to rookie Jake Fraser-McGurk’s half-century and 24-ball 41 from Rishabh Pant. Although LSG would be sad to lose a home match, they might have suffered more if Ayush Badoni hadn’t produced an outstanding hitting performance and formed an important alliance with Arshad Khan.
The Super Giants chose to bat first, but they lost early wickets and were at one point looking down the barrel with seven overs remaining in the innings at 94/7. At this point, Badoni and Arshad came together to contribute 73 runs for the eighth wicket, helping LSG reach 167 runs in their 20 overs. The pairing of Brad Hodge and James Faulkner, who put up 69 runs for the Rajasthan Royals against the Mumbai Indians in 2014, shattered a record that stood for ten years. Their 73 runs for the eighth wicket is the biggest partnership in IPL history.
It’s interesting to remember that Hodge and Faulkner once teamed up when the Royals were struggling at 75/7 and combined to hammer 69 runs in only 6.5 overs. RR was chasing a tough total of 179 runs, but their partnership had guaranteed they achieved 153 runs for the cost of eight wickets. Even though Badoni hit 20 runs and his partner, Arshad Khan, remained undefeated at 55, their efforts were in vain.
In IPL history, the 73-run partnership between the two players is also the second-highest for an eighth wicket or less. They failed to match Rashid Khan and Alzarri Joseph’s undefeated 88-run partnership against the Mumbai Indians in the 2023 Indian Premier League, falling short by 15 runs.
