Delhi Capitals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets to start their IPL campaign. Sameer Rizvi’s stellar unbeaten 70 off 47 balls guided DC in their chase of 142, after Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan took three wickets each.
Delhi Capitals (DC) started the new IPL season with a thumping six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, and the DC skipper Axar Patel accepted that he is ‘very happy with his bowling unit.’ Asked to bat first, LSG were bowled out for 141 thanks to the seamer Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan’s three wickets apiece. Riding on Sameer Rizvi’s unbeaten 70 runs, DC chased down the target comfortably and started their campaign with an easy two points.
‘Happy with the bowling effort’: Rishabh Pant
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant said, “It finished early, but in the middle it had become close. We just needed one partnership, and that’s what we spoke about in the break. Very happy with the bowling effort. When we started with the ball, we knew there was a bit of help for the bowlers, which was communicated to whoever was coming onto bowl. You see how the match is going, there was a bigger and smaller boundary, and I was seeing who I could bowl, in the end, I might have miscalculated.”
Speaking about the Player of the Match, Sameer Rizvi, he said, “The plan was to play Rizvi, but also have the option to Ashutosh Sharma. Last year, Ashu did it in the first game and this time, Rizvi. He works hard on his game and keeps asking how he can improve himself.” Rizvi played an unbeaten knock of 70 runs off just 47 balls, which helped his side chase down a challenging target of 142 runs with six wickets and 17 balls to spare.
LSG skipper on defeat and batting strategy
Reacting to the defeat in the first match of the season, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant said, “I think the best way to recover from it is to ignore (on his unlucky run-out). I think that’s the best way looking forward because you know something like that, you can’t control, but thinking about it definitely puts you on the back foot. On the idea behind sending Badoni ahead of Pooran in the batting order, he said, “I think the idea was very simple. Like he’s taking charge in the middle overs. He’s not batting in the top order anymore because I’m batting up the order. And that’s why it happened because, you know, we wanted to explore that lefty-righty option at the top, so they couldn’t bowl a left-arm spinner. Unfortunately, I got out at the wrong time. Otherwise, Axar Patel still had to bowl one over in the power play, and that gives us the edge over them.”
Rishabh Pant came to open the LSG innings, and when asked if he would open the batting for LSG throughout the season, Pant said, “I think it’s a 50-50 call, but we’ll see. But you will definitely see me in the top order.”
DC’s winning streak against LSG
Delhi Capitals have now secured five consecutive wins against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, making them the third team against whom DC has achieved such a streak. Previously, they had also won five consecutive matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad between 2020 and 2023, and against Rajasthan Royals from 2018 to 2020. (ANI)
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