Delhi Capitals fast bowler Lungi Ngidi was taken to the hospital in an ambulance after appearing to have injured his head during Punjab Kings‘ chase at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
He suffered the blow while pedalling back from mid-off to try and catch PBKS opener Priyansh Arya, but ended up dropping the chance as he fell backwards and hit his head hard on the ground. He immediately clutched the back of his head in pain and did not get off the turf.
Play was halted for a significant amount of time as the physio and doctors rushed on to the field to check on Ngidi, who continued to lay on the grass. His neck and head were eventually supported by a brace, and he was put on a stretcher and into the ambulance for further checks.
Just over an hour after he was stretchered off, the IPL tweet said Ngidi was “stable” and was “due to be discharged shortly from the hospital.”
Ngidi was replaced in DC’s XI by legspinner Vipraj Nigam, who came in as the concussion substitute. With the injury occurring in the third over, Ngidi had not yet bowled in DC’s defence of 264, and Nigam will be able to bowl a full quota of four overs.
DC had posted 264 in the day game on Saturday after opting to bat, on the back of an unbeaten 152 from KL Rahul. But PBKS chased it down spectacularly with seven balls to spare, making it the highest successful chase in the IPL. The result didn’t change the teams’ positions on the points table though. DC are sixth with three wins after seven matches, while PBKS stretched their lead at the top with six wins and a no-result from their first seven matches.
