Rishabh Pant walked out to open the batting for the first time in ten years at the Ekana Stadium on April 1 and lasted nine balls before a freak run-out in the third over.

That decision set the tone for an LSG innings that never recovered, with the hosts bowled out for 141 in 18.4 overs. Delhi then collapsed to 26 for 4 before Sameer Rizvi arrived as Impact Player and changed the game entirely.

A 119-run unbroken partnership between Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs guided DC home with 17 balls to spare giving Axar Patel's side a 6-wicket win and their first points of IPL 2026.

LSG's top order crumbles vs DC and the Rishabh Pant experiment backfires

The decision to move Rishabh Pant to the top of the order broke the Marsh-Markram partnership that averaged 47.83 together in 2025 and the consequences were immediate. Pant managed just 7 off 9 balls at a strike rate of 77 before the run-out removed him in the third over.

LSG then lost Aiden Markram for 11, Ayush Badoni for a duck and Nicholas Pooran for 8 in quick succession and found themselves 19 for 1 becoming 71 for 5 before Abdul Samad steadied things briefly.

Samad hit three sixes to push LSG past 100 and finished with 36 off 25 while Marsh contributed 35 off 28 but the early damage was irreparable.

T Natarajan took 3 for 29 and Kuldeep Yadav took 2 for 31 as the spin twins combined for 17 dot balls between them and held LSG to a scoring rate of just 7.55. LSG were all out in 18.4 overs, their third lowest home total when batting first.

IPL 2026: DC fall to 26 for 4 before Sameer Rizvi changes everything

The chase looked in serious trouble when DC lost KL Rahul and Axar Patel for ducks inside the first four overs.

Mohammed Shami and Prince Yadav shared four wickets to reduce DC to 26 for 4 inside five overs and suddenly 141 looked more competitive than it had any right to.

Rizvi came in as Impact Player at 3.3 overs and immediately changed the tempo. He and Stubbs added 119 unbroken runs in 76 balls, a fifth wicket record for DC against LSG. Rizvi finished 70 not out off 47 balls with five fours and four sixes while Stubbs contributed 39 not out off 32.

The pair reached fifty in 48 balls and a hundred in 82 and the contest was over in the 18th over with DC finishing on 145 for 4.

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