Veteran pacer Mitchell Starc endured a tough debut for the Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League clash against the Lucknow Super Giants on Monday. The left-arm quick conceded 21 runs off his second over as LSG raced to 64-1 after the powerplay.

Starc was handed the new ball after skipper Axar Patel opted to bowl first. He kept things tight in his opening over against Aiden Markram, but his Australia teammate Mitchell Marsh smashed a six over deep square leg off the final delivery.

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The pacer’s struggles continued in his next over. Markram walked down the track to launch a six over long-off, while Marsh hammered three consecutive boundaries — two fours and a six — in the latter half of the over. In search of control, DC turned to spin during the remainder of the powerplay. Axar Patel and debutant Vipraj Nigam bowled the final overs of the fielding restrictions, but LSG maintained their momentum.

Starc, returning to competitive cricket after missing the 2025 Champions Trophy due to personal reasons, was taken off the attack after failing to make an impact. He last played during Australia’s red-ball tour of Sri Lanka in February.

Delhi Capitals Playing XI: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (w), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar.

Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (w/c), David Miller, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi.