Match overview
Delhi Capitals beat Lucknow Super Giants by 1 wicket in a tense IPL 2025 fixture at the Dr Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on 24 March 2025. Lucknow posted 209/8 from their 20 overs, a score that looked well above par after a powerful start. Delhi's chase was chaotic from the outset: 4 wickets fell inside the powerplay for just 58 runs. From there, the match tilted and counter-tilted until the final delivery. Ashutosh Sharma was named Player of the Match for his part in seeing Delhi home. The win extends Delhi's head-to-head record against Lucknow to 5 wins from 8 meetings.
Lucknow's innings was built on a platform of 64 runs for 1 wicket in the powerplay, comfortably above the venue average of 43. The middle overs added another 106 at the cost of 3, setting up a death-over total of 39. For Delhi's chase, the powerplay damage could have been terminal, but the middle overs produced 90 for 2, and the death overs delivered 63 runs. The decisive phase. That 63-run death-over return, against a venue average of just 35, is what separated the sides in the final calculation.
Venue and conditions
The ACA-VDCA Stadium has hosted 58 T20 matches, producing an average first-innings score of 196 and a second-innings average of 169. The 27-run differential between those two averages is a meaningful indicator: this is a venue where par scores tend to look more formidable in the second innings than they did when set. Both sides outperformed their respective averages in this match, with Lucknow's 209 and Delhi's 211 both above the first-innings norm.
Toss bias is a genuine factor here. Captains opt to field 59% of the time, and the chase success rate sits at 53%, suggesting a mild but real advantage for sides batting second. Delhi's decision to field after winning the toss followed the historical trend. The powerplay tends to be cautious by T20 standards, with the ground average of 43 runs in the first six overs pointing to a surface that offers early movement, but the death overs are where this ground has historically produced its highest variance. Both teams' death-over totals in this fixture. 39 for LSG, 63 for Delhi. Confirm that reading.
How to watch
IPL 2025 is broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports Cricket. Subscribers can stream via Sky Go or access matches through a NOW TV day pass without a full contract. Evening matches in India during March and April typically start at around 14:00 GMT or 18:00 GMT, so check the Sky Sports schedule for exact UK kickoff times for forthcoming fixtures.
Recent form
Lucknow Super Giants came into this match with a mixed run. Their last five results (all in 2024) showed two wins against Mumbai Indians bracketing three consecutive defeats, including a loss to Delhi Capitals. That defeat to Delhi was part of a four-match losing streak against the same opponents going back to 2023. Delhi's recent form was similarly patchy: three wins from five in 2024, with losses to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. Their most recent form heading into Visakhapatnam, however, included a win over Lucknow and a win over Mumbai Indians. On paper, neither side arrived in overwhelming form, which made the toss and powerplay phases all the more significant. Delhi's ability to recover from 4 wickets down in the powerplay to win by 1 wicket is the most striking data point from this fixture, and it will be worth watching whether that resilience carries forward in their remaining matches.
