Sameer Rizvi's unbeaten 70 and a disciplined bowling effort helped Delhi Capitals beat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets in their IPL 2026 opener, says Axar Patel.
Delhi Capitals (DC) started IPL 2026 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.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel 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.