New Delhi: Sameer Rizvi has brought the ‘rizz’ for Delhi Capitals for two matches in a row now. After his starring role in their six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Saturday, DC have climbed to the top of the IPL 2026 table, having beaten Lucknow Super Giants in their opening game.
Chasing 163, Delhi Capitals weren’t off to the best start. Much like the previous innings, the top-order crumbled early. KL Rahul departed for one run and Nitish Rana was dismissed for a duck but Pathum Nissanka—in essentially his second IPL match—impressed along with last match’s hero Sameer Rizvi.
The duo stitched a 66-run partnership to steady the ship after DC was reduced to 7/2 at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground. Nissanka’s counter punch yielded 44 off 30 balls. At the 10-over mark, both teams were at an identical score: 73/3.
It was right then that Rizvi took off. In the 11th over, he went after Corbin Bosch with a 20-run takedown. He scored two boundaries on the trot and two sixes off him. He slashed him over mid-off, ramped him behind the wicket, cut him over deep point and launched him down the ground.
Rizvi, 22, was slow to start the innings but he showed that his performance against LSG at Lucknow—he made 88 not out—was no flash in the pan and that he indeed has what it takes to be a solid middle-order batter for the franchise.
Coming in at No.4 as Impact Player in place of pacer Mukesh Kumar, Rizvi decisively turned the game in DC’s favour. He had built a reputation as one of the most exciting T20 batters on the domestic circuit after impressing for Uttar Pradesh and emerging one of the top run-getters in the UPT20 League.
He was signed for ₹8.40 crore in the 2024 auction by Chennai Super Kings but didn’t fetch impressive returns. In the 2025 auction, he was bought for ₹95 lakh by DC, who retained him ahead of this year’s IPL. The returns for Capitals, if the first two matches are anything to go by, are very impressive as Rizvi is making it count.
With 14 needed off 16 balls and his team in a commanding position, Rizvi needed just 12 to bring up his hundred. Corbin Bosch though ended his 90-run blinder, dismissing him with a full delivery that he tried to launch over long-off but the bat turned in his hand and Tilak Varma took an easy catch at long-off.
Asked to bat first, MI posted 162/6—a total that was expected to be enough on what was initially a two-paced pitch. MI did not really find an anchor until Suryakumar Yadav, stand-in captain for the unwell Hardik Pandya, scored a measured half-century.
Mukesh Kumar (2/26) struck early to jolt MI at the outset. He had been looking to extract swing from the first over itself but ended up conceding boundaries. In the next over, he pulled his length back to dismiss opener Ryan Rickelton (9) and deceived Tilak Varma by taking the pace off the ball.
Rohit Sharma (35) and Suryakumar forged a 53-run stand and steadied the ship after being 18/2 in 2.3 overs. However, just as it seemed like the duo would kick on, Rohit fell to Axar Patel.
Sherfane Rutherford also failed to make an impact as he holed out while trying to slog-sweep Vipraj Nigam. Suryakumar built his innings well, rotating the strike and relying on his sweep but he was dismissed soon after reaching his fifty, trapped by a classic slower delivery by Lungi Ngidi.
“As you saw in the first innings, shot making wasn’t that easy. We’ve got bowlers who can exploit that and try and try and squeeze them in the first six. If you can manage to do that in the first six, then we are pretty much in control of the game and then, our spinners, and the seamers, can come into the picture,” Rohit Sharma told the official broadcaster mid-innings.
After the match, Suryakumar Yadav acknowledged that although they expected the pitch to play slow and it was two-paced initially, it played far better after that. “Perhaps we fell about 20 runs short,” he said.
Cameos by Naman Dhir (28), Mitchell Santner (18*) and Corbin Bosch (11*) took the MI total past 160, but it did not prove anywhere enough, especially with Rizvi in the mood he was.
