Brief Score: Delhi Capitals (145/4 in 17.1 overs) beat Lucknow Super Giants (141 all-out) by six wickets in Lucknow.
LSG vs DC, IPL 2026: MAIN | SCORECARD
On one rare IPL night when the ball spoke louder than the bat, Sameer Rizvi found his voice. And in doing so he showed what faith, maintained in quiet, difficult days, can become.
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Once she had bet Rs 8.4 crore on Chennai Super Kings, Rizvi played an innings that looked like redemption as well as arrival. His unbeaten 70 off 40 balls was not a fire, but a slow, steady development on a surface that finally offered the bowlers a breather. It was enough to guide Delhi Capitals to a tense chase of 142 against Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2026 opener in Lucknow.
Sameer Rizvi needed eight balls to break the silence. He was 4 of 11 at one stage and could feel himself getting inside.
But the 22-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, often compared to left-armer Suresh Raina, did not flinch. Absorbing the pressure, he stood firm and waited even as the pace of the Lucknow supergiants’ attack fired up Ekana.
The shift was gaining weight as it went. And when combined with the calm presence of Tristan Stubbs, it became decisive. Together, they took Delhi from the brink of collapse to the safety of a six-wicket victory, sealing the chase in 17.1 overs.
Because not long before, Delhi was staring at the familiar chaos of a shaky start. At 26 for 4, with KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Axar Patel and Nitish Rana already back in the pavilion, the night was in danger of slipping away.
But Rizvi was in no hurry. Neither did Stubbs. They absorbed, waited, listened. Around them, the LSG pacers led by Prince Yadav bent the game to their will, moving the ball both ways and sending the Lucknow crowd into a frenzy.
And then, almost silently, the tide turned.
Rizvi started looking for loopholes. Stubbs found moments. The pressure eased, then dissolved. What started as survival grew into control and control in command. Their unbeaten 119-run stand wasn’t just a partnership, it was a reclamation.
Towards the end, the chase seemed inevitable. Even clinical.
In the process, Delhi extended their winning streak against Lucknow Super Giants to five matches. In a derby that is beginning to find its rhythm, the Capitals are setting the tone, firm, sure and increasingly unshakable.
SPIN, THE DIFFERENCE?
While riders from both sides hit the belts on the red ground, the difference, apart from Rizvi and Stubbs, was how the spinners were used.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav combined for seven overs of control and craft, returning figures of 3 for 48. In contrast, LSG’s spin options did not last. Shahbaz Ahmed, who was brought in as an Impact Sub ahead of top-class spinner Digvesh Rathi, failed to replicate the same control, conceding 16 in his only over. Aiden Markram, brought on almost as an afterthought, went for 13.
Speedy overseas LSG Anrich Nortje endured an unforgettable outing. On a night when most pacers were doing well, the South African struggled for rhythm and control, conceding 39 runs in four overs without a wicket, leaving his skipper Rishabh Pant with no choice.
Tactically, LSG were out of sorts. There were too many missteps with the bat and in the end 141 proved insufficient despite a rousing opening burst from Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan.
Prince in particular had the crowd at a loss. He produced a scorching delivery to dismiss Axar Patel as well as remove Pathum Nissanka, a spell that briefly changed the contest. Alongside Shami and Mohsin, he held firm, the trio dismissed under seven and over. However, the lack of support from the rest of the attack proved costly.
It was a night of frustration for Pant and his men. At home, on a pitch that begged for improvement, they failed, especially with the bat.
RISHABH PANT HAZARD FAILS
Earlier in the day, Lucknow Super Giants raised a few eyebrows by sending Rishabh Pant to open alongside Mitchell Marsh. While Pant was given his preferred IPL role, it meant breaking their most productive pairing of Aiden Markram and Marsh at the top. It was a bold tactical call, but the omission of Markram, especially after his productive T20 World Cup, was open to debate.
However, Pant and Marsh gave LSG a steady start. Mukesh Kumar and Lungi Ngidi held firm and used a surface that was far from a batsman’s paradise. Just when it seemed that the pair would change gears halfway through the power play, misfortune struck.
A rough green has rarely favored Pant in his rollercoaster career and it didn’t apply here either. Ekana was stunned silent as Mukesh tiptoed Marsh’s leading edge. Marsh survived a tough chance caught and dropped, but the deflection left Pant stranded at the bottom.
Pant cut a visibly disappointed figure on the long journey back after scoring just seven off nine. He didn’t look fluent, but there were signs of patience, building innings.
His release caused a mini meltdown. Markram in 3rd place fell at the end of the power play. Axar Patel, who turned up early, was rewarded. After driving a beautiful shot over the skipper’s head, Markram misjudged the length of a full delivery and paid the price when it crept under his bat.
WHY DELAY PORANA?
At No.4, LSG retained Nicholas Pooran and sent on Ayush Badoni, who looked good in net on the eve of the match. This step failed. Badoni chased down a wide, swinging delivery from T Natarajan and departed without troubling the batsman.
Introduced immediately after the power play, Natarajan made an immediate impact and allayed any concerns about his fitness following an injury-plagued spell at Delhi Capitals last season.
However, LSG’s approach remained mysterious. Opening with Pant had its logic, but it came at the cost of maximizing Pooran’s time at the crease. Even the #4 slot seemed a minimal expectation. Instead, the decision to hold him back belied a basic principle of T20: let your best batsman face as many balls as possible.
SLOWER NGIDI BALL
Pooran’s stay was short, almost like a cameo. Delhi’s planning was sharp. Before he could settle, Axar turned back to Ngidi and replaced Natarajan despite his wicket in the previous over. Ngidi delivered and executed his cutter with the same control he showed in the T20 World Cup.
He was the first contender for the ball of the tournament. He dipped, pinched and beat Pooran with both pace and movement, leaving the West Indian reeling as the ball crept through the gap between bat and pad.
The woes deepened for LSG when Kuldeep Yadav joined the act. Fighting a lone battle and adapting well to the pace of the pitch, Marsh was destroyed by a sharp google that spun around his defence.
With Marsh gone for 35, LSG were reeling at 71 for 5 at half-time.
A brief stand-off between Abdul Samad and Mukul Chowdhary offered some resistance but Kuldeep cut it short with another googly, this time behind Mukul.
At 105 for 6, LSG were forced into another gutsy call. After picking four frontline pacers, they brought in all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed in place of Digvesh Rathi, their front spinner and likely Impact Sub.
The move was not worth it. LSG were bowled out for 141 in 18.4 overs. Shahbaz was stranded on 15 off 16 balls. He added 33 to that with Abdul Samad the brightest spark for LSG. Samad scored 36 off 25, with three fours and a six, before falling in the 18th over to Natarajan.
It was Natarajan again who struck twice in the over to derail LSG’s last charge. Ngidi followed up by clearing the tail in the 19th over to complete a clinical bowling performance.
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Published on:
01 April 2026 23:17 IST
