Rizvi led Delhi Capitals to another big win. Doing it once could be luck, but performing like this again and again shows he’s the real deal. Just like the last match where the team was struggling at 4/26, he once again stepped up and guided them to victory.
Delhi Capitals’ start to the second innings was nightmarish again. KL Rahul got strangled down the leg side, while Nitish Rana committed hara-kiri and ran himself out. 7/2 in the second over and the protagonist walked in. Rizvi exuded confidence with every shot he played. His hands were quick, bat speed thunderous and wrists golden. He didn’t just hit the ball, but clobbered it on most occasions.
Rizvi stars again as Delhi Capitals secure another convincing win
In Pathum Nissanka, he found an able partner in crime too. The right-handed opener took the lead first with some aggressive shot-making in the powerplay. Fortune favoured the brave and Nissanka got dropped a couple of times before he eventually fell to Santner for a 30-ball-44. However, Rizvi kept going. One swashbuckling shot after the other. With a sumptuous 51-ball-90, he sealed the deal for the home side. The only thing that he will be disappointed about was that he could not get a hundred. There was ample time for it, but he fell to Corbin Bosch.
There is not much to speak of MI’s bowling, but the batting showed good signs. Rohit Sharma got a start, albeit he was not able to convert it into anythig big and was dismissed by the DC skipper. Though, stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav scored an impressive fifty on what was a two-paced pitch. In the absence of Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir too played a good hand down the order. However, it was not enough.
Delhi’s bowlers assessed the conditions well and bowled a plethora of slower balls. Mukesh Kumar set the tone right with the new ball, picking 2/12 in his first two overs, while the others chipped in with decent contributions too. The only wicketless bowler on the day was Kuldeep Yadav. Despite that, and the failure of big-named batters, Delhi Capitals have now notched up two successive wins. These are good signs going forward.