Sameer Rizvi was the star performer once again as he scored a brilliant 90 runs off 51 balls to lead Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket victory over the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.
Choosing to bowl first, Delhi managed to restrict Mumbai to 162-6 on a slow pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, where timing shots and scoring runs was challenging.
In the absence of regular captain Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 51 runs while Rohit Sharma contributed 35 runs. However, Mumbai struggled to hit boundaries, hitting only four sixes throughout their innings.
Rizvi adapted well to the conditions, smashing his second consecutive half-century to help Delhi secure the win with 11 balls remaining. His explosive innings of 90 runs included seven sixes and as many fours.
This victory handed Mumbai Indians their first defeat of the season. Delhi Capitals now lead the standings, level on four points with Punjab Kings but ahead on net run-rate.
Mukesh picked up two crucial wickets in the third over, dismissing Ryan Rickelton and Tilak Varma to put Mumbai on the backfoot early in the match.
Despite a slow start, Mumbai managed to reach 41-2 after the first six powerplay overs, thanks to some aggressive batting from Rohit Sharma. However, his dismissal by Axar Patel halted Mumbai’s momentum.
While Kuldeep Yadav conceded 17 runs in the 15th over, Lungi Ngidi struck quickly to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav and prevent Mumbai from accelerating the scoring rate.
Delhi Capitals also had a slow start in the powerplay, reaching 42-2 before Pathum Nissanka (44) launched a counter-attack. Mitchell Santner got rid of Nissanka, but Sameer Rizvi took charge by scoring 20 runs off a Corbin Bosch over and hitting two consecutive sixes off Mayank Markande, putting Delhi in a commanding position.
