On what was termed a slow wicket, 22-year-old Sameer Rizvi launched an assault that stunned MI after DC’s bowlers defanged Rohit and Suryakumar
The first one in the 12th over of Delhi Capitals’ chase was over long on. This hit was more about hand swing than foot movement. But the next was classic Rizvi, quickly coming down the track and launching a straight six.
On a pitch which was not conducive to slam-bang batting, the 22-year-old made it seem like the 22-yard strip had been switched when he walked into bat at No.4. His treatment of the tall South African fast bowler Corbin Bosch, though, was a testament to his confidence. It happened in the 11th over of the DC innings, just before Markande’s, shifting the momentum easily. Batting on 25 from 23 balls, Rizvi had flicked Bosch for a glorious six in the previous over. What followed was pure mayhem.
Boundaries at will 😏
Glimpses of Sameer Rizvi’s superb power hitting ▶️ https://t.co/0EB3YicdL3#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #DCvMI | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/7q0dHV8LX8
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Rizvi’s assault
He put away a wide ball through mid-off for a four to begin the assault. The next delivery, he displayed class and improvisation. Rizvi expected the ball to be short and had lined up to pull it before realising the stroke wasn’t on. In a flash, he angled his bat and ramped it past the wicket keeper for another four. The next two shots would have hurt Bosch’s ego. A mighty slash over deep point for a six, followed by another six over long on. His fearlessness and ability to judge the length quickly, except against Jasprit Bumrah, were impressive. Going for a six when on 90, with no personal milestone in mind, would have pleased the coaches.
The greats Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav couldn’t play free-flowing innings when the Mumbai Indians batted, the former saying ‘it was a pretty slow wicket’ at the innings break. Rizvi, promoted to No.4 this season for DC and coming off a match-winning, unbeaten 70 off just 47 balls against Lucknow earlier this week, didn’t slow down once he got going.
He scored his fifty from just 31 balls, with 26 runs coming from just 8 deliveries after a sedate start. His six-hitting needs special mention. Seventy of his 90 runs came via boundaries. His seven sixes, three more than the combined total of the mighty Mumbai batsmen, on what was a slow surface, eventually made it a one-sided match as DC won by six wickets and 11 balls to spare. If Rizvi made it a stroll for DC, their bowlers deserve credit for shackling the Mumbai batsmen.
Style in abundance 👏
A couple of glorious shots for six from Pathum Nissanka and Sameer Rizvi 💪#DC need 70 runs from 54 deliveries.
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Defanging Mumbai
Defanging the Mumbai Indians’ power-packed batting line-up is not for the faint-hearted, even with Hardik Pandya sitting out because of an illness. In their first home match, the Delhi Capitals bowlers were on the money. Not many can match Delhi Capitals’ fast bowler Lungi Ngidi’s slower ball, but Mukesh Kumar produced a wonderful specimen to fox MI’s No.3 Tilak Varma. The ball stopped on Tilak, and Mukesh had a caught-and-bowled victim. Before this, Ryan Rickelton paid the price for trying too hard to whack a length ball into the stands to be caught at mid-off. Two wickets in one over from Mukesh was the ideal start.
At 18 for 2 in the third over, the Mumbai Indians’ two best batsmen – Rohit and Suryakumar – were tasked with the responsibility of rebuilding. But Rohit’s wonderful timing deserted him, and Suryakumar wasn’t at his free-flowing best on the ‘slow’ surface.
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Run-making was tough with the first six of the innings struck off the last ball of the seventh over, Rohit launching leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam back over his head. But it wasn’t Rohit’s day because in the very next over, he smashed a widish ball from Axar to Nitish Rana at cover.
First with the ball, now in the field 👌
🎥 Mukesh Kumar’s brilliantly judged catch in the deep 🫴#MI 117/4 after 15 overs.
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The spinners got the ball to turn on the slow wicket. They came into play early. Axar brought himself on in the fourth over and bowled Nigam in the next. Nigam ripped a delivery past the bat after Suryakumar had swept him for a four to put doubt in the mind of one of the best strikers of the ball. There were two fine sixes from Suryakumar, one a trademark sweep by picking the ball outside off stump from Patel and depositing it to the deep fine leg boundary. For the other six, he used his feet to deposit Kuldeep Yadav for a straight six into the sightscreen.
That Suryakumar’s fifty took 35 balls told the story of the bowlers keeping it tight. When Ngidi dismissed Suryakumar in the 16th over, before he could step on the gas, any hopes of MI posting a big target vanished.
