Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2026 opener match slumped to a defeat against Delhi Capitals. Bold move of Rishabh Pant to open the innings did not go as planned, raising questions about his role at the top. In the third over, Pant’s outing ended in a bizarre run-out. Catching Pant well short at the non-striker’s end due to a straight drive from Mitchell Marsh was deflected onto the stumps by Mukesh Kumar.
The LSG captain was the unlucky dismissal, who scored 7 off 9 balls, walked off visibly frustrated.
Reflecting on the moment, Rishabh Pant told, “I think the best way to recover from it is to ignore. I think that’s the best way looking forward because you know something like that, you can’t control, but thinking about it definitely puts you on the back-foot.”
Pant also admitted that the team struggled to build partnerships: “See, it is always the case, but you know the way we batted, we couldn’t get a partnership going for long.”
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Established pair of Aiden Markram and Marsh was broken due to Pant’s promotion to the top which raised eyebrows of everyone. He told on addressing whether he will continue as opener “I think it’s a 50-50 call, but we’ll see. But definitely see me in the top order.”
Despite starts from Markram and a fighting 35 from Marsh, LSG’s batting faltered throughout, managing just 141 in 18.4 overs.
T Natarajan and Lungi Ngidi starred with three wickets each, while Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with critical breakthroughs.
Stubbs, Rizvi secure win for Delhi Capitals
Chasing the target 142, Delhi Capitals were in early trouble before Sameer Rizvi (70*) and Tristan Stubbs (39*) stitched a match-winning 119-run stand. Fearless hitting of Rizvi moved the match on its head as Delhi Capitals chased down the target in 17.1 overs.
Due to the opening experiment failing and batting of LSG misfiring, Rishabh Pant now faces a critical call on his position going forward.
