IPL: Rizvi takes DC home against Punjab Kings
Out of the playoffs race, Capitals pulled off a spirited chase against the already qualified PBKS, winning by six wickets in Jaipur
Kolkata: Job half done, said Shreyas Iyer at the toss because a spot in the top two was at stake for Punjab Kings (PBKS). Maybe his batters had not got the memo so the captain produced another good show with the bat and with some late pyrotechnics from Marcus Stoinis took PBKS beyond the 200-mark for the seventh time in IPL 2025.
But whatever Iyer and Stoinis had done, Sameer Rizvi did better, and in keeping with the trend of teams that have qualified for the play-offs losing, 206/8 proved to be inadequate as Delhi Capitals (DC) won by six wickets in Jaipur on Saturday.
Till now, DC had been a walking, talking example of well begun being only half done. They had zero wins in their last five matches after having won five of their first six. But after another poor show on the field, Karun Nair made the day of his comeback to the Test squad even more special with a 27-ball 44. Along with healthy contributions from the openers and Sediqullah Atal (22), it kept DC in the chase. With his maiden IPL half-century, Sameer Rizvi took DC over the line showing that India has another promising young batter.
At 21, the player from Uttar Pradesh was bought by DC for ₹95 lakh and though it came a little too late for them, it showed that they have invested well. The way Rizvi dug out a yorker for four off Azmatullah Omarzai and the six he hit moving inside the line to Arshdeep Singh showed both ability and temperament. Along with Tristan Stubbs, who continued his good work with the gloves with the bat, he helped DC end a long losing sequence.
It didn’t look that way when Stoinis was given a reprieve on 18 by Mohit Sharma off Kuldeep Yadav in the 18th over. Next ball, Iyer went but Stoinis went on to make 44 off 16 balls and take PBKS past 200 after they took 25 off Mukesh Kumar’s 17th over and 22 from the 19th bowled by Mohit Sharma.
As has been their wont this term, PBKS went into attack mode from the off and did not stop. Their batting has had contributions from openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, Iyer, and down the order with five having crossed 250 this season heading into their penultimate match in Jaipur.
But on Saturday, Arya went cheaply, Prabhsimran started well and a shot that stayed in the mind was a steer for four after shaping to play a scoop. But he fell on 18 trying another scoop. Josh Inglish made 32 off 12 but didn’t make the most of two dropped catches on 8 and 20, the first by Mohit who couldn’t hold on to a stiff chance at mid-on and then by Mustafizur Rahman, which was even stiffer off his bowling. Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh too did not carry on after getting starts.
Not so, Iyer. The skipper worked the field, took on the spinners and scored 48% of his runs in front of the wicket. When Kuldeep, who began with a no-ball, tossed it, Iyer swung it for six. When Sharma overpitched just so, he was cover-driven for four. There was an elegant cut off Mukesh and a boundary over extra-cover off leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam. But for the incredible effort from Rizvi, Iyer’s 53 would not have been enough.
