‘Reborn’ Sameer hits second half-century to power Capitals to five-wicket win over Indians

A ‘reborn’ Sameer Rizvi is turning on the heat in IPL 2026 with his scintillating batting. On Saturday, the right-handed bat struck his second consecutive half-century to steer Delhi Capitals to a five-wicket victory over five-time champions Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Two years back (December 2023), Sameer had become the highest earning, most expensive uncapped player in the 2024 IPL auction. He was purchased for the record price of Rs 8.40 crore by the Chennai Super Kings. However, things did not pan out as he envisioned. Rizvi scored just 51 runs in eight innings and was not retained by CSK the following year.

At the mega auction before IPL 2025, Rizvi was picked by Delhi Capitals (DC) for a paltry Rs 95 lakh – from Rs 8.4 crore he fell to under a crore, which amounted to an eight-time cut in pay.  Sameer had a lukewarm season with Capitals too, managing just 121 runs in four innings, but ended with an unbeaten 58 off 25 balls to sign off Capitals’ campaign with a win. The knock ensured that Sameer was retained by Capitals for the existing price of Rs 95 lakh.

On Saturday, Sameer Rizvi once again came to Delhi Capitals’ rescue. Chasing 162 for a win on a tricky and two-paced surface where the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav struggled, Sameer dominated the Mumbai Indians attack. Pics: BCCI

Sameer picked up the threads from where he left off last season. In the first game against Lucknow Super Giants on April 1, 2026, he showed the stuff he was made off and why people call him the right-handed Suresh Raina.

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The 22-year-old Uttar Pradesh lad, who came in as an Impact Player, rescued Capitals, who tottering at 26 for four in 4.3 overs while chasing 141. Sameer scored an unbeaten 70 and shared a 119-run unbroken partnership for the fifth wicket with Tristan Stubbs, who made 39. He was named the Player of the Match in that game.

Sameer to the fore yet again

On Saturday, Sameer once again came to Capitals’ rescue. Chasing 162 for a win on a tricky and two-paced surface where the likes of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav struggled, Sameer dominated the Mumbai Indians attack.

Capitals had lost KL Rahul (1) and Nitish Rana (0) with just seven on the board in the second over. Sameer and Pathum Nissanka (44; 30 balls, 6×4, 1×6) then steadied the innings with a 66-run stand for the third wicket which came off 49 balls. Sameer took his time to settle down as Pathum went after the rival bowlers. Pathum scored 38 off 26 balls and Sameer contributed 25 off 23 balls.

Rizvi and Stubbs help Capitals become first visiting side to post a victory in IPL 2026

After Pathum departed, Sameer took over and slammed the Mumbai Indians attack to all parts of the park. He shared a 78-run partnership off 39 balls with South African David Miller with Sameer contributing a whopping 65 off 28 balls while the big-hitting Miller made a 11-ball 11. Such was the dominance of Sameer that Miller, who himself is known for his big hitting at the death, was turned into a spectator.

Sameer finally fell at 151 but the task was almost done. Sameer made 90 off 51 balls with seven fours and an equal number over it. Miller (21 not out) and Tristan Stubbs (3 not out) took Capitals to 164 for four in 18.1 overs.

“I’ve worked a lot on myself. I’ve worked on my weaknesses, I wasn’t as good against fast bowlers, so I worked on that in the last year. I try to play according to the situation. I took time, got set and then played my shots. I tried to watch the ball as long as possible. Did the same in the last game. If you score runs here, you get a lot of confidence and opportunities for us youngsters,” Sameer, who was named Player of the Match, said.

Suryakumar Yadav made 51 to rescue Mumbai Indians from a poor start against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi

Rohit, Surya to Mumbai’s rescue

Earlier, asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians, who were without the services of regular skipper Hardik Pandya, lost Ryan Rickelton (9) and Tilak Varma (0) with 18 on the board. Mukesh Kumar plucking both of them out in the same over.

Rohit (35) and skipper Suryakumar (51; 36 balls, 3x, 2×6) steadied the innings with a 53-run stand for the third wicket but the Indians were unable to break free from the shackles.

Later, Suryakumar and Nama Dhir (28) added 37 for the fifth wicket but it needed cameos from Mitchell Santner (18 not out) and Corbin Bosch (11 not out) to take Mumbai Indians to 162 for six.

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“Decent wicket, we expected it to be slow. We were 15-20 short, don’t want to take credit away from their bowlers and Rizvi. Lot of credit to him, he never let us get back into the game. Pitch didn’t change too much, they understood the conditions and batted beautifully. When batting first, there’s nothing like a par score. We felt 180-185 was a good score. Naman and I got out at the wrong time. There’ll be days like this with the ball, have to go back to the drawing board and come back better,” said Suryakumar.

Delhi Capitals surged to the top of the table with four points, ahead of Punjab Kings who too have the same number of points.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 162 for six in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 35, Surya Kumar Yadav 51, Naman Dhir 28, Mitchell Santner 18 not out; Mukesh Kumar 2/26) lost to Delhi Capitals 164 for four in 18.1 overs (Pathum Nissanka 44, Sameer Rizvi 90, David Miller 21 not out).