Brief Score: Delhi (164/4 in 18.1 overs) beat Mumbai (162/6) by 7 wickets. Sameer Rizvi (90), Pathum Nissanka (44) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Highlights | Scorecard
As the skies darkened in Delhi, Sameer Rizvi provided the spark. He lit up the Kotla with a composed but authoritative knock, guiding Delhi Capitals past Mumbai Indians to their second straight win in a low-scoring IPL clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. Rizvi, calm under pressure, smartly transitioned after the chase. He absorbed an early squeeze before switching gears at the right moment to take the game away from the visitors.
Fresh from his escape, match winning 70 off 47 balls in Lucknowthe youngster showed it was no one-off with a sensational 90-run blitz, producing a convincing display that mixed patience with calculated aggression. The Capitals won by six wickets with 11 balls, which Rohit Sharma described as a slow and sluggish Kotla pitch.
WATCH: A standing ovation FOR RIZVI
Chasing 163 for their second consecutive win, Delhi Capitals were pegged back early when KL Rahul and Nitish Rana fell cheaply on the slow surface of the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Mumbai Indians batted with discipline and awareness and used the conditions to put immediate pressure on the hosts. Rahul was dismissed for 1 off 3 balls, bowled by Deepak Chahar at leg, with Ryan Rickelton completing a crisp catch behind the stumps. Rana followed soon after, running out for a duck after a moment’s hesitation as he attempted a quick single off Jasprit Bumrah, putting DC in early trouble.
However, Pathum Nissanka responded with determination and took it upon himself to shift the momentum despite the slow surface. He started with Bumrah forcefully pushing through the covers before pulling Chahar to the fine-leg fence. There was some fortune, too, with an inside edge racing past short fine leg, but Nissanka quickly made his intentions clear, using a reverse sweep to lift Mitchell Santner over cover.
He kept the pressure on, pulled Shardul Thakur over square leg for the first six of the chase and then lifted a full delivery straight back over the bowler’s head. Sensing an opening, Nissanka pushed further and raced down the track to send Thakur over mid on to bring Delhi back into the contest.
Mumbai had a chance in the ninth over when Corbin Bosch induced a miscue. Nissanka swung it sharply towards deep backward square leg but Naman Dhir, usually reliable, didn’t hold on despite trying to dive to his right. However, Miss did not prove to be expensive.
Mitchell Santner struck soon after, with Nissanka trying to pull a short ball that rushed at him, only to edge it to short fine leg. Mayank Markande moved quickly to his right and completed a sliding catch to end a lively innings that changed the momentum briefly.
David Miller came in next and Delhi opted to retain Tristan Stubbs. Starting cautiously, Rizvi soon found his rhythm and showed that his previous innings was not a one-off. With the game level, he faced Bosch in the final over, cutting him through mid-on, kicking him behind the wicket, cutting him over deep point and finishing with a direct hit down the ground for a 20-run streak that tilted the match in Delhi’s favour.
He carried that momentum into the next over, using his legs against Markand to hit back-to-back sixes straight down the ground. The former brought up his half-century off 31 balls and capped a confident and timely knock that put Delhi’s chase firmly in check.
Rizvi then dismantled Shardul Thakur with two fours and a six, the highlight being a short delivery of good length outside off which he backed and sliced wide of long off. At the end of the over, the result was a foregone conclusion, the only question was whether he would reach a hundred with Delhi needing 25 and Rizvi 17.
He eventually fell for 90 off 51 balls. Rizvi lost control of his bat while trying to launch a full delivery from Corbin Bosch over long-on and Tilak Varma completed a simple catch in the deep. Walking back, Delhi rose in unison to applaud the knock that all but sealed the chase.
Tristan Stubbs then joined Miller with 12 needed off 20 balls and the South African pair ensured Delhi Capitals overhauled the 163-run target without any further hiccups.
SKY FIFTY LIFTS ME
Earlier, Delhi Capitals took full advantage of what could prove to be a crucial toss in their first home match to restrict Mumbai Indians to 162 for 6 on a slow surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The DC bowlers varied pace intelligently and bowled yorkers consistently, ensuring that the score never got away, even as stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav produced a measured half-century to hold the innings together.
Suryakumar led from the front with 51 off 36 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes, while Rohit Sharma chipped in with 35. Still, the rest of the batting line-up struggled to hit the surface at two paces, especially at the death, where Mumbai managed just 38 runs from the last four overs. T Natarajan set the tone in the penultimate over, conceding just four runs and dismissing Naman Dhir, before two late boundaries to Corbin Bosch off Mukesh Kumar in the final over lifted MI to a total that was still overwhelming.
DC BOWLERS COME OUT
Delhi’s bowling effort was defined by control and clarity of plans. Skipper Axar Patel was brilliant, returning figures of 1 for 22 in his four overs while accounting for the dangerous Rohit. Vipraj Nigam supported well with 1 for 24 while Kuldeep Yadav, though slightly expensive with 0 for 31 in three overs, played his part in building pressure through the middle overs. The pace trio of Mukesh Kumar (2/26), Lungi Ngidi (1/34) and Natarajan (1/24) complemented the spinners effectively, sharing four wickets and maintaining discipline across the phases.
Mukesh provided the first breakthroughs that set the tone for the innings. He first removed the in-form Ryan Rickelton who mis-played to mid-on before striking two balls later with a crisp return to dismiss Tilak Varma for a duck, leaving Mumbai Indians under pressure in the powerplay.
Rohit and Suryakumar then attempted a recovery and put on a 53-run stand for the third wicket. Rohit broke the shackles with the first six of the match, lofting Vipraj Nigam over long-on, while Suryakumar followed up with a maximum of his own. However, just as the partnership started to pick up steam, Delhi’s spinners stepped up their drive.
Axar struck to remove Rohit, who mistimed the shot to cover where Nitish Rana finished off a sharp catch. Vipraj then accounted for Sherfan Rutherford, with Mukesh clinging to a well-judged catch near the boundary as Mumbai once again lost momentum.
Leading in Hardik Pandya’s absence, Suryakumar looked to add speed alongside Naman Dhir (28) and the pair struck briefly, taking 15 runs, including a couple of sixes, before the 15th over Kuldeep Yadav. But the acceleration was short-lived. Soon after missing his half-century, Suryakumar was trapped leg-before by Ngidi, who cleverly rolled his fingers over the ball to slow down the game.
From that moment on, DC tightened the screws further. Natarajan returned to remove Dhir at the crucial juncture and wickets fell at regular intervals with Mumbai unable to get the final momentum going and settling for a below average looking total.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
04 Apr 2026 19:21 IST
