Delhi Capitals won their first match of IPL 2026 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. It was not an easy chase, but one tactical masterstroke from head coach Hemang Badani turned the game in Delhi Capitals' favour.
Delhi Capitals, in the second innings while chasing a target of 142, were struggling at 26/4 after losing the wickets of KL Rahul, Nitish Rana, Pathum Nissanka, and Axar Patel in the powerplay itself.
Hemang Badani's call to send Tristan Stubbs ahead of David Miller turns the match for Delhi Capitals
After that, David Miller was about to come out to bat, but Hemang Badani came sprinting from the dressing room, as seen in the video, and asked him to wait. The decision was made to send Tristan Stubbs ahead of him. So, Stubbs came in at No. 6 to bat alongside Sameer Rizvi.
This turned out to be a great decision, as the partnership between Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs turned the match in DC's favour. They stayed till the end and sealed the victory for Delhi Capitals by six wickets. The duo put together unbeaten 119 runs off 76 balls, with Rizvi scoring 70 off 47 and Tristan Stubbs scoring 39 off 32.
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Delhi Capitals seal dominant win after recovering from top-order collapse
Lucknow struggled to get going and were all out for 141 runs in 18.4 overs. The team got off to a poor start when captain Rishabh Pant was run out for only 7. While Mitchell Marsh (35) and Abdul Samad (36) played some quick shots to help the score, Delhi's bowlers kept taking wickets. Lungi Ngidi and T. Natarajan both bowled very well, taking three wickets each. Their accurate bowling prevented Lucknow from building any big partnerships.
Delhi's chase started terribly as they lost KL Rahul for a duck on the very first ball. LSG's bowlers, especially Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan, bowled well and reduced Delhi Capitals to 26/4. However unbeaten knocks from Sameer Rizvi (70) and Tristan Stubbs (39) rescued the team with a big 119-run partnership.
Though their middle-order batters saved them after a top-order collapse, they will be hoping that players like Rahul and Nissanka get back to form in the next match, as it will strengthen their batting lineup.
With this, Delhi Capitals won their first match of the season and will host Mumbai Indians in their next match.
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