DC Vs LSG: The Miracle of Vizag: Ashutosh Sharma’s Night of Destiny | IPL 2025

 

DC Vs LSG: The Miracle of Vizag: Ashutosh Sharma’s Night of Destiny | IPL 2025

On March 24, 2025, the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam transformed into a modern-day Colosseum, where gladiators clad in Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) jerseys battled under the floodlights. The fourth match of IPL 2025 wasn’t just a game—it was a spectacle of raw courage, improbable comebacks, and a young warrior named Ashutosh Sharma who etched his name into cricketing folklore.

The evening began with LSG captain Rishabh Pant, donning his new colors after a record-breaking Rs. 27 crore move, losing the toss to DC’s Axar Patel, who opted to bowl first on a pitch kissed by coastal dew. LSG’s batting lineup, a blend of international flair and domestic grit, roared into action. Mitchell Marsh, the Australian all-rounder, blazed 72 off 41 balls, his towering sixes painting the Vizag sky. Nicholas Pooran joined the carnage, smashing 75 off 35, including four consecutive sixes off Tristan Stubbs that left the crowd gasping. At 161/2 after 13 overs, LSG seemed destined for a score well beyond 250.

But cricket, like life, thrives on twists. DC’s bowlers, led by the wily Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-20-2), tightened the screws. Pant fell for a six-ball duck to Kuldeep’s guile, a moment that silenced the LSG dugout and hinted at a shift in momentum. Mitchell Starc, the Rs. 20 crore Aussie spearhead, and Mukesh Kumar chipped in, triggering a collapse of 48/6 in the final seven overs. LSG finished at 209/8—a formidable total, but one that left the door ajar for a DC heist.

The chase began like a nightmare for DC. Shardul Thakur, LSG’s seasoned campaigner, struck twice in the first over, dismissing Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abishek Porel for a combined two runs. Sameer Rizvi followed soon after, leaving DC reeling at 7/3 in 1.4 overs. The Vizag crowd, a sea of blue and orange, sensed an early finish. Axar Patel (22 off 11) and Faf du Plessis (a gritty 25) offered brief resistance, but when Ravi Bishnoi trapped Faf in the seventh over, DC slumped to 65/5. LSG’s victory seemed a formality.

Enter Ashutosh Sharma, a 26-year-old from Railways with a reputation for audacity. Alongside Tristan Stubbs (34 off 22), he ignited a flicker of hope, smashing boundaries with a ferocity that belied the scoreboard pressure. Stubbs fell to M Siddharth in the 13th over, but the arrival of debutant Vipraj Nigam, a 20-year-old leg-spinning all-rounder, turned the flicker into a flame. Nigam’s 39 off 15 balls—replete with audacious sweeps and lofted cover drives—stunned LSG’s bowlers. Together, he and Ashutosh plundered 55 runs in 22 balls, dragging DC back from the abyss.

With 42 needed off 23, Nigam holed out to Digvesh Rathi, and the pendulum swung again. Starc and Kuldeep fell cheaply, leaving DC at 192/9 with six runs required off the final over. Mohit Sharma, the No. 11, faced Shahbaz Ahmed’s first ball—a turning beauty that grazed his pad. Pant, behind the stumps, fumbled a stumping chance, and the crowd held its breath as LSG’s review failed. Mohit scampered a single, handing the strike to Ashutosh, who stood unbeaten on 60 off 30.

The equation read five off four. Shahbaz delivered a slot ball, and Ashutosh, with the poise of a veteran and the power of a titan, launched it into the sightscreen for six. The stadium erupted as DC clinched a one-wicket victory at 211/9 with three balls to spare. Ashutosh finished on 66* off 31—five fours, five sixes—a knock that turned a near-certain defeat into a triumph for the ages.

Post-match, Faf du Plessis likened it to the iconic 438-game chase, calling Mohit’s single “the most important of his life.” Ashutosh, clutching the Player of the Match award, dedicated it to his mentor Shikhar Dhawan, his voice trembling with emotion. For LSG, the loss exposed their bowling frailties, with four frontline pacers sidelined by injury. Pant, though crestfallen, promised a fightback.

As the Vizag night settled, the story of Ashutosh Sharma—gladiator, finisher, hero—echoed beyond the stadium walls. DC vs. LSG on March 24, 2025, wasn’t just a match; it was a testament to cricket’s unrelenting capacity to surprise, inspire, and immortalize.