Delhi Capitals’ Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi celebrate their partnership. (ANI Photo)
LUCKNOW: The much reputed batting of Lucknow Super Giants managed a meagre 141 after being asked to bat first, and at the break it seemed a lost cause for the home side. Some excellent pace bowling spearheaded by Mohammed Shami briefly raised hopes of a fightback, but talented Sameer Rizvi’s brilliant knock helped Delhi Capitals script a hard-earned six-wicket win in the opening IPL match at the Ekana Stadium on Wednesday.
It was the first time this season that a team had lost at home.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Chasing 142, Delhi Capitals were in deep trouble at 26/4 in 4.3 overs as Shami and Prince Yadav ripped through the top order. But Rizvi rose to the occasion with a superb unbeaten 70 and stitched a match-winning 119-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs (39) to take DC home with 17 balls to spare. Rizvi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, proved to be the thorn for Lucknow and their hopes of making a winning start, leaving the home crowd disappointed.
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Delhi’s innings began disastrously. Shami struck on the very first ball, dismissing DC opener KL Rahul for a golden duck as he sliced a wide delivery to deep third man. Prince Yadav then struck what at that time felt like decisive blows in the fifth over, removing Pathum Nissanka (1) and Axar Patel off successive balls to leave DC reeling. However, Rizvi and Stubbs steadied the chase with remarkable composure, counterattacking smartly to wrest control from the hosts.
Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants’ decision to promote captain Rishabh Pant to open alongside Mitchell Marsh did not yield the expected result. Pant looked unsettled and was run out for seven in the third over after a deflection off Mukesh Kumar’s fingertips hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end.Delhi’s bowlers kept things tight throughout the powerplay, restricting Lucknow to 42/2 in six overs. Axar Patel then cleaned up Aiden Markram (11), while T Natarajan dismissed Ayush Badoni for a duck.
Lucknow had slipped to 49 for 3 and were in a spot of bother.
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Marsh (35) offered some resistance with three sixes, but Kuldeep Yadav dismissed him for the fourth time in six encounters, leaving LSG at 71/5. Mukul Choudhary (14) and Abdul Samad tried to rebuild with a 34-run stand, while Shahbaz Ahmed (15) added late runs, but Natarajan and Kuldeep ensured Lucknow were bundled out for 141.In the end, Rizvi’s calmness under pressure and his decisive partnership with Stubbs proved to be the difference in a match that had many twists and turns.
