Sameer Rizvi shone in the impact player’s role once again as he smashed 90 off 51 balls to secure Delhi Capitals a six-wicket victory over the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.
Choosing to field, Delhi restricted Mumbai to 162-6 on a slow track at the Arun Jaitley Stadium where timing was tricky and stroke-making risky.
Standing in for the ailing skipper Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 51 and Rohit Sharma made 35. However, only four sixes in the entire Mumbai innings highlighted the difficulty of clearing the ropes.
Rizvi adapted well to the conditions and smashed his second consecutive half-century as Delhi comfortably won with 11 balls to spare.
Rizvi hit seven sixes and as many fours in his 51-ball blitz, condemning Mumbai to their first loss of the season.
Delhi currently lead the standings, tied on four points with Punjab Kings but ahead on net run-rate.
Mukesh took two wickets in the third over, dismissing Ryan Rickelton and Tilak Varma to leave Mumbai at 18-2.
Mumbai struggled to 41-2 after the first six powerplay overs, showcasing Delhi’s tight fielding and disciplined lengths.
Relief came in the seventh over when Rohit hit the first six of the match to bring up Mumbai’s fifty. However, Axar Patel removed Rohit just as the opener was looking to accelerate.
Kuldeep Yadav gave away 17 runs in the 15th over, but the momentum was quickly halted when Suryakumar was trapped lbw by Lungi Ngidi.
Delhi’s 42-2 in the powerplay mirrored Mumbai’s slow start before opener Pathum Nissanka (44) launched a counter-attack.
Mitchell Santner dismissed Nissanka, but Rizvi took on the change bowlers, scoring 20 off a Corbin Bosch over and hitting back-to-back sixes off Mayank Markande to put Delhi firmly in control.
