Slower balls are always dangerous in the modern era Twenty20 format as batters on most occasions are looking to smash the ball hard. Bowlers, precisely the pacers, use the loophole as a trap to trick the batters. This is exactly what happened with Nicholas Pooran in the Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals (LSG vs DC) IPL 2026 match, when a slower delivery from Lungi Ngidi dismantled the stumps.
LSG fell into massive trouble as soon as their middle-order batter Nicholas Pooran was dismissed for only 8 runs, facing 8 deliveries only. Lungi Ngidi, who played a lot of cricket across all formats, knows how to control the swashbuckling batters. Pooran is one of the batters who is well known for his aggressive batting.
Lungi Ngidi’s slower delivery bamboozled LSG batter Nicholas Pooran
To counter the attacking batter, Lungi Ngidi, the South Africa international pacer, launched a slower ball, which clocked at 112.4 kph, went through the defence of the left-handed batter. Pooran tried to play the ball on the off, but his bat stuck on the bat, and in the meantime, the ball sneaked past to hit the stumps. Lucknow Super Giants lost their 4th wicket of the night for only 65 on the scoreboard.
Your daily dose of cricket!
Watch the wicket here:
Through the defence 😯
🎥 Lungi Ngidi foxes Nicholas Pooran with his brilliance 🔥
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/lfP7dRNKfg#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #LSGvDC | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/7RQyWsBUhA
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 1, 2026
LSG batting unit facing question marks against the DC bowlers
On the home ground, for most of the first innings, the LSG batters have been struggling for a smooth flow of runs. Mitchell Marsh, one of their openers looked promising against the new ball and scored 35 runs as well against 28 deliveries. Apart from the batting stint of Mitchell Marsh, the LSG batting line-up so far has not produced anything significant against the Delhi Capitals, the away team for the match.
For the wicket of Nicholas Pooran, who could be dangerous at any moment, for utilising Lungi Ngidi at the right moment of the match. Apart from Patel, the South African is the most experienced pacer, in terms of playing international matches, in the bowling line-up of DC.
Along with Lungi Ngidi, other DC bowlers also delivered well
Another pacer of the team, Mukesh Kumar, who provided an economical spell to Delhi, and most importantly, he ran Rishabh Pant out cheaply in the early part of the innings. Experienced spinner Kuldeep Yadav also helped the Delhi Capitals by taking the wicket of Marsh.
Inside the 10th over of the first innings, LSG went down by 5 wickets. Star batters like Marsh, Pant, Aiden Markram, Pooran, and Ayush Badoni went off guard before the first innings reached the end of the 10th over. T Natarajan, a common name in Indian domestic cricket, also dismissed the emerging talent of Indian cricket, Ayush Badoni, for a duck. LSG were bowled out for the score of 141 runs.
Read More: Axar Patel produces a peach to dismiss Aiden Markram in LSG vs DC IPL 2026 clash