Another day, another young star rising to the occasion! A superb knock from DC’s impact player Sameer Rizvi guided his side to a comfortable win despite early setbacks in the chase. Calm under pressure and clinical in execution — a real match-winning effort.
The trend in IPL 2026 continues to evolve. While chasing teams have dominated so far, tonight marked a first — the home side losing both the toss and the match this season.
Up next, we move to the iconic Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders take on Sunrisers Hyderabad — both teams looking to bounce back after defeats in their opening games. For now, this is Pritam Dey signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Ajay Pal Singh, AkshayaKrishna Polya & Ninaad Dixit who, along with scorers/analysts Manish Bishnoi & Raju Khariya and statistician Aman brought all the updates of this clash. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world. BYE BYE👋
Sameer Rizvi (Player of the Match): [on finishing the last season with a 50 and starting this season] "We played some practice matches before the season. The staff backed me to play at number 4 this season and gave me the freedom. I tried to play similarly tonight.
[on playing at this venue] If you are playing in your hometown, you know the conditions well. It helped me today.
[on the chats during the batting innings] I tried to keep a positive approach in the powerplay but losing 2 quick wickets changed things. Stubbs also talked me to respect the conditions as the ball was swinging and seaming. We knew we could take the game deep and finish it off.
[on attacking after 50] I didn't think that way. I was attacking every bad ball before as well and that was my plan - to attack the bad balls."
Player of the Match: Sameer Rizvi
Axar Patel (Delhi Capitals Captain): "(Did the game go down too deep?) Well, no. The match got over a bit early but in the middle of the chase, things got interesting. The new ball was moving around so a partnership at that stage was important. During the strategic time-out, we passed on the same message that we were just one good partnership away from getting ourselves into a good position. Both of them finished off well in the end.
(On the bowlers) Yes, I was very happy with all the bowlers. When we started our bowling innings, we understood that the ball is swinging. So, accordingly we made the bowling changes. All the bowlers were executing their plans and I think everyone bowled really well.
(Is he under bowling himself?) Umm, I felt that on this wicket, the fast bowlers were getting more help than the spinners. One side was big while the other side was small. That's the reason why I decided to bowl the seamers more than the spinners. Yes, I miscalculated one over but we ended up really well in our bowling innings.
(On Sameer Rizvi) Yes, we had the plan from before that Sameer will definitely play tonight but it depends. If we get a couple of good partnerships at the top of the order, we can use Ashutosh Sharma as well. And yes, the way Sameer was batting in the nets, we had plans of playing him tonight. He proved today how good a player he is. Last time, in our first game, Ashu proved his worth and today he (Sameer) proved it. I am very happy with Sameer Rizvi. When you do well for the team it makes me proud."
Most Dot Balls in the Match: Mohsin Khan (15 Dots)
Super Fours of the Match: Sameer Rizvi (5 Fours)
Super Sixes of the Match: Sameer Rizvi (4 Maximums)
Super Striker of the Match: Sameer Rizvi (SR 148.9)
11:21 PM IST, Local Time: Deep Dasgupta is ready with the post-match presentation..
STAT ATTACK: The 119* partnership between Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs is the second-highest in IPL history for a pair coming together at under 30/4, only behind the 134* stand by Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan for Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Lions in 2016.