Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians, 8th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary

90 runs, 51 balls, 7 fours, 7 sixes - take a bow, Sameer Rizvi. On a two-paced deck where stroke-making was difficult for almost all batters, he put on a show. Thanks to his incredible knock, Delhi Capitals are now at the top of the table. Mumbai Indians played today's game without Hardik and made three changes. Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande and Corbin Bosch couldn't apply any sort of pressure and were punished by Rizvi. They'll hope that it's a one-off day. On that note, it's curtains down on this encounter. There's one more game lined up - Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals - today. See you there.

Sameer Rizvi | Player of the Match (translated from Hindi): Yes sir, I have worked very hard on myself because since last year there have been many changes. I worked on all my weaknesses, and I used to have some problems against fast bowlers, so I worked a lot on that throughout the year. The hard work is paying off now, I am batting well. And what you said is true - sometimes when a player is in the zone, he sees the ball differently. Yes sir, I always try to play according to the situation. If the situation is changing, then I play accordingly in both innings. At the start, our situation required some time, so I took my time. Then, according to the situation, once I got settled at the wicket, I played my shots and tried to watch the ball till the very end. (two matches, two different situations, how did you go?) Yes, I try that whenever I come in to bat in such situations, I take some time because with time you get set at the wicket. Once you are settled, you understand the situation better and can play accordingly. Then you do not feel too much pressure about what to do next. Once you get set, things become easier in batting. (coming into the IPL in good form) Yes, this is a very important time for any player because if you score runs and bat well here, you gain confidence. You also get opportunities to move ahead, to play more, and to get chances on bigger platforms. So sir, it is a very good thing for us youngsters.

Axar Patel | DC captain (translated from Hindi): No, obviously in T20 cricket, flexibility is very important - how you approach the game. If you feel you have players who can play freely and adapt anywhere, and when the pitch behaves differently, you can use those players accordingly. So it’s about being open-minded. It’s not like sending someone up the order will suddenly change everything. It’s just about making tactical moves, and if they work, they work. (on Rizvi) No, obviously, when planning happens - when you practice together and play cricket together - Ashu is also batting really well. But it’s about which player you need on a particular day. If that player delivers for you at that time, then it’s great. For me, it’s actually a good problem to have, that I have to choose. I think it shows how strong our bench strength is. (learnings from last year) Basically, I feel taking it one game at a time is very important. When you’re winning continuously, maintaining that momentum is crucial. Because whenever there’s a break and the momentum stops, making a comeback in a tournament like the IPL - which is a long tournament - becomes difficult. So you focus on one game, do well, and then move on without thinking too much about the past. That’s how I feel, we’ve got a good start this time, and we won’t repeat last year’s mistakes.

Most wins vs MI in IPL
18 - CSK (39 mats)
17 - PBKS (34 mats)
17 - DC (38 mats)*
15 - RCB (34 mats)
14 - RR (30 mats)

This is the second win in the last seven IPL matches for DC against MI. And this is DC’s just the second win in six games at Delhi since 2025 (another came via Super over against RR).

Highest score by an impact player in IPL
108* - Sai Sudharsan vs DC, Delhi, 2025
107* - Jos Buttler vs KKR, Kolkata, 2024
90 - Sameer Rizvi vs MI, Delhi, 2026*
89 - Karun Nair vs MI, Delhi, 2025

Sameer Rizvi’s last 3 scores in IPL
58* (25) vs PBKS
70* (47) vs LSG
90 (51) vs MI

Sameer Rizvi's innings today
vs Pace: 63 off 33 balls, SR: 190.9 (5x4s, 5x6s)
vs Spin: 27 off 18 balls, SR: 150.0 (2x4s, 2x6s)

– Sameer Rizvi scored 52 runs (26 balls, SR: 200.0) on the off side, just 32 runs (24 balls, SR: 133.3) towards the on side, and six runs off 1 ball in the straight zone today.

Suryakumar Yadav | MI stand-in skipper: "I think it was a decent wicket. We expected it to be a little on the slower side, but still from batting point of view we were a little short, 15-20 runs, but I don't want to take any credit away from their bowlers and also they batted really well in the second innings. (on Rizvi) Absolutely, I mean at 7 for 2 someone coming in like that and batting like the way he batted, I think a lot of credit goes to him. He never let us come into the game. We tried our best to follow all the things what they did in the bowling department, but we couldn't come back. (on the pitch, did it ease out?) I think it was quite similar. It didn't change too much, but the way they batted, I think they batted very beautifully. They understood the conditions really well in the second innings and batted beautifully. (what was a good score?) I mean when you're batting first, there's nothing like thinking about the score. You just keep batting, understand the stats, what's good, what has been good here, but we felt 180-185 was a good score. We fell short by 15-20 runs. I think me and Naman, we both got out at the wrong time during the 16th and 18th over, otherwise we would have at least got above par. I mean absolutely, see, there'll be days like this when you try and it won't work, but we will go back to drawing board, work hard and come back in the next game."

19:02 IST, 13:32 GMT: Two successful run-chases for Delhi Capitals. The first ten overs of DC's innings closely resembled MI's. Two early wickets (Rickelton-Rahul & Rahul-Rana). Fifty partnership for the third wicket (Rohit-SKY & Nissanka-Rizvi). A set opener falling in the 10th over (Rohit & Nissanka). After 10 overs, both teams were 73/3. It seemed like we would witness a close game. And that's when 22-year-old Sameer Rizvi decided to take matters into his own hands. He got off to a slow start - took 10 balls to score his first boundary and was on 11 after facing 17 balls. But he shifted gears after the 10th over and MI had no answers against the youngster. He smashed 20 runs off Bosch (11th over), followed with back-to-back sixes off Markande to raise his third successive IPL fifty. He was watchful against Bumrah but once again went on the offensive against the other bowlers. He hit sixes for fun and Miller had the best seat in the house. The South African was happy to give the strike to Rizvi and the left-handed contributed just 11 runs in the 78-run partnership. Rizvi missed out an IPL hundred by just 10 runs but he'll remember this knock for a long time.

90 runs by Sameer Rizvi is third highest score by a DC batter against MI in IPL after 95* by Sehwag in 2013 and 91* by Jason Roy in 2018. Seven sixes by him is also the joint-most a DC batter hit against MI alongside Pant in 2019 and Stubbs in 2024.