Lucknow, April 1 (IANS) Sameer Rizvi’s unbeaten 70 and his 119-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs helped Delhi Capitals kick off their campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 with a thumping six-wicket victory over hosts Lucknow Super Giants at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday.

The strategy of LSG revolved around the pace bowling attack from the onset; consequently, the four-pronged seam attack made it easy for them to force the Delhi Capitals to early on in their run chase of 142 runs. The seamers created plenty of opportunity for movement right from the first ball, which proved too much for KL Rahul (0), who sliced a full outswinger delivery of Mohammad Shami to deep backwards point.

Nitish Rana also struggled, managing a few boundaries from loose deliveries but generally failing to find his timing before edging a ball from Mohsin Khan to the keeper after a hesitant stay.

Prince Yadav was instrumental with the ball. After forcing Pathum Nissanka to play a top edge shot — which Rishabh Pant caught after running in at an angle and diving, thus causing him to collide with the fence — he then delivered the standout delivery of the Power-play with one that swung late and hit Axar Patel’s stumps after he attempted to flick the ball away on a fuller delivery that had previously swung away from him.

As the ball continued to seam and swing late into the innings, LSG kept using pace, even pushing Mohammed Shami to bowl his full quota within the first nine overs for more breakthroughs. Despite the collapse, Sameer Rizvi tried to change the momentum. He initially struggled to find gaps, but then hit a smart ramped six off a short ball. He followed this by scoring three boundaries during a rare off day for Shahbaz Ahmed. That over briefly shifted the momentum, but the match was still balanced.

Earlier, asked to bat first, LSG came up with a new opening batting pair as skipper Rishabh Pant promoted himself to the top order but was removed early in the innings of an unfortunate run out. A strange moment in what might have been a caught-and-bowled chance for Mitchell Marsh turned into a run-out. Mukesh Kumar got a slight touch on the ball, which hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end, catching Pant short of his crease at seven runs.

Mukesh Kumar set the tone with an exceptional new-ball spell, conceding less than a run a ball in the powerplay while extracting swing and seam and keeping Mitchell Marsh quiet outside off. Axar Patel then struck in trademark fashion, deceiving Aiden Markram with a skiddy, angled delivery soon after being hit for six, as DC restricted LSG to 48/2. The collapse continued with Ayush Badoni edging T. Natarajan, before Lungi Ngidi produced a stunning slower ball to outfox Nicholas Pooran.

Delhi tightened their grip as Marsh fell for 35 attempting to take on Kuldeep Yadav, while debutant Mukul Choudhary showed brief promise with a quick 14 before being undone by a googly. Abdul Samad offered resistance with 36 but was eventually dismissed by Natarajan, triggering a late collapse where the rest managed just three runs. Ngidi and Natarajan led the charge with three wickets each, while Kuldeep chipped in with two, sealing a dominant bowling performance for DC.

Rizvi played an important role under pressure, proving the Delhi Capitals made the right choice by selecting him as the Impact Player over options like Karun Nair and Ashutosh Sharma. After a tough start where he struggled to score, making 0 off 9 and then 5 off 13 against LSG’s strong seam bowlers, Rizvi steadied himself to build a partnership of 119 runs off 76 with Tristan Stubbs.

He took full advantage of the little spin available, attacking Shahbaz Ahmed and Aiden Markram aggressively, hitting four fours and a six in their overs. By reaching a well-earned fifty off 37 balls, Rizvi’s innings was key in shifting the momentum and putting DC in a strong position in a tough chase.

Rizvi ended with an unbeaten 70, and Stubbs was not out on 39, helping Delhi Capitals kick off their campaign in style with a six-wicket win over hosts LSG.

Brief scores:

Lucknow Super Giants 141 all out in 18.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 35, Abdul Samad 36; T Natarajan 3-29, Lungi Ngidi 3-31 Kuldeep Yadav 2-31) lost to Delhi Capitals 145/4 in 17.1 overs (Sameer Rizavi 70 not out, Tistan Stunns 39 not out; Prince Yadav 2-20, Mohsin Khan 1-19) by six wickets.

–IANS

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