Sameer Rizvi special powers DC to winning start

In a nutshell

For the third evening running, a score of 200 was nowhere in the vicinity. Lucknow Super Giants were well below par with the bat but their pacers tested Delhi Capitals with considerable movement. A target of 142 was always going to be tough to defend though for the hosts, as DC rode on Sameer Rizvi's unbeaten 70 to complete a six-wicket win to open their account in IPL 2026 on Wednesday (April 1).

The match in phases

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 141 all out in 18.4 overs (Abdul Samad 36 (25), Lungi Ngidi 3-27, T Natarajan 3-29, Kuldeep Yadav 2-31) lost to Delhi Capitals 145/4 in 17.1 overs (Sameer Rizvi 70* (47), Tristan Stubbs 39* (32), Prince Yadav 2-20, Mohsin Khan 1-19) by 6 wickets

Who won DC the game?

The bowlers, who simply did not miss a beat. Mukesh Kumar got the new ball to swing and operated around a tidy radar. While the dismissal of Rishabh Pant was a fortuitous one, the Capitals did their homework with Axar Patel bowling himself to the Mitchell Marsh-Aiden Markram duo and deploying Kuldeep Yadav and Lungi Ngidi against Nicholas Pooran. Ngidi was superb with his dipping off-cutter, leaving LSG in disarray when he castled Pooran with one such delivery, while there were a host of tame dismissals to go with it as well on a track that had no demons in it as such.

But LSG were in with a chance?

More than a chance, given how the ball swung throughout the Powerplay. Each of the four DC wickets to fall in that phase were in the good length zone, even as the pacers couldn't always control the swing in terms of line. KL Rahul threw his hands at a wide Mohammed Shami delivery, only to pick out deep third man. Mohsin Khan marked his return to competitive cricket after a 15-month gap with Nitish Rana's wicket, while leg byes aside, he didn't concede a run across his first 11 deliveries. Prince Yadav then landed a double-whammy to leave the Capitals in disarray at 26/4.

How did the Capitals recover then?

Local boy Sameer Rizvi emerged the hero, despite the pacers testing him early on. Batting on 5 off 13, he ramped a pacey Anrich Nortje short ball for six but the momentum truly swung in the 10th over as he took on Shahbaz Ahamad for three boundaries in a 16-run over. Tristan Stubbs looked all at ease himself but Rizvi emerged as the star, having come in as the impact substitute and weathered a tricky passage of play. Once he was in, there was no stopping him and an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 119 saw the Capitals through.

What did Rishabh Pant do?

For starters, he took a massive decision with regards to his batting number, as he strode out to open the innings alongside Marsh, despite all the success that the latter had with Markram in 2025. Pant got off the mark with a regal on-drive and was content in taking his time initially. But his innings was short-lived as Marsh hit one straight back at Mukesh who couldn't hold onto a tough chance but saw the ball dislodge the bails at the other end on the ricochet with Pant backing up too far. On the field, Pant didn't do much wrong although the timing of that Shahbaz over backfired on him.

Not to be left out

Left-arm seamers are worth their weight in gold. And two of them made their presence felt after difficult trysts with injuries. While Mohsin returned miserly figures of 1/19 off his four overs, T Natarajan bowled with control through the middle phase and dismissed Ayush Badoni, before nabbing two wickets at the death.

What's next for the two teams?

DC head home for the first afternoon fixture of the tournament as they host Mumbai Indians on Saturday (April 4). LSG will feature in the second afternoon fixture of IPL 2026 as they face Sunrisers Hyderabad on the road on Sunday (April 5).