Quinton de Kock showed imperious form with their 80 of 52 balls when the Lucknow Super Giants defeated the Delhi Capitals by six goals on Thursday and won their third consecutive victory in the IPL debut season here.

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The Delhi Capitals lost their way to a convincing knockout by Prithvi Shaw (61 of 31), who finished 149 in 3 after Lucknow predictably decided to take the lead. With the springs owned by Lucknow, 150 was to be a pleasant pursuit, and the party led by KL Rahul made sure of that and returned home with two balls left on a solid surface.

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De Kock was the most damaging when he shared 73 shots with his initial partner Rahul (24 of 25).

The South African goalie is even more aggressive with compatriot Anrich Nortj, who played his first match since November. Fire Pacifier, who played his first IPL match in India, was defeated by Kock in three fours and six in more than 19 runs.

On a night that became unforgettable for Nortje, the South African pacemaker had to be removed from the attack after giving birth to two without balls at the height of the waist.

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After Rahul crashed, his team needed 76 in the last 10 overs. De Kock, who racked up nine fours and two sixes, brought the team to the brink of victory with his second score of over 50 of the tournaments.

Since the pitch wasn't the easiest to hit, Lucknow struggled to finish the match even with Deepak Hooda in form and experienced that Krunal Pandya didn't find the big hits.

Lucknow finally managed to get the job done with young Ayush Badoni who scored four decisive and a six from Shardul Thakur in the final.

Previously, Shaw's shots were of all kinds before Lucknow returned to the game with an impressive bowling performance. Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi (2/22) was the featured artist for the new IPL attendees.

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David Warner (4 of 12), returned to the franchise where he made his IPL debut in 2009, struggled in his first innings of the season.

Spinner K Gowtham (1/23) received the ball in the second over and Shaw did not allow him to settle, sending a full ball over cover in his first four innings.

Jason Holder was on the receiving end in the next over when Shaw pulled him out for a six-over mid-wicket. Then it was the turn of pacemaker Avesh Khan, who was hit for three straight fours in the fourth over.

It looked like Shaw was hitting on a different surface as the others were fighting around him. He used his quick hands to cut the ball and was just as quick to drive anything into cover.

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It was a promising powerplay for Capitals who reached 52 for no loss in six overs. However, Lucknow fought back after the powerplay with wickets of Shaw, Warner and Rovman Powell (3 off 10) in a space of 18 balls.

Shaw was caught behind Gowtham after hitting him six in a row. Warner fell on a shoddy shot from Bishnoi and Powell saw his stumps move as he sought a fake slog shot from the young man spinning his legs, leaving the Capitals at 74-3 in 11th.

The onus was on skipper Rishabh Pant (39 not out off 36) to take the team to a respectable total and he did that in the company of Sarfaraz Khan (36 not out off 28) who was playing his debut game for the franchise.

Pant aimed primarily at the straight and Sarfaraz, without taking many risks, displayed skills that brought him a lot of racing in home cricket.