Sameer Rizvi played a phenomenal knock of unbeaten 58 runs off only 25 balls as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings in their final league game of the IPL 2025 campaign. The 21-year-old Sameer Rizvi has been in the IPL circuit since 2024, having made his debut for Chennai Super Kings last year. However, he failed to impress for the five-time champions, scoring only 51 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 118.60.
Despite having a poor season with the bat, Delhi backed Sameer Rizvi as they signed him for INR 95 lakhs. Apart from DC, Chennai were also interested in signing the cricketer. Meanwhile, Sameer Rizvi had an incredible campaign for Kashi Rudras, scoring 469 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 152.76. He finished as the second-leading run-scorer of the tournament and that arguably caught the eyes of Munaf Patel, DC’s bowling coach.
He was scouting talents from the UPT20 League and that is probably how DC got to know about Sameer Rizvi and his destructive batting. He has played 32 T20 matches in his career, scoring 543 runs. He usually bats in the middle order and is extremely flexible as he has batted anywhere he was asked to for Delhi this year.
Notably, courtesy of Sameer Rizvi’s scintillating knock against Punjab, Delhi won the match by six wickets. Batting first, the Shreyas Iyer-led side was in song as the captain led by example. He hit yet another half-century in the tournament, while Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis played important cameos of 32 and 44*, respectively.
Delhi were put under some pressure in the second innings, but Karun and Sameer Rizvi were in fine form to help Delhi get the job done. In the post-match presentation, the youngster revealed that he was short on confidence at one point but was happy to see his hardwork pay off.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Pitch number four is being used. 69 metres and 62 metres on the sides. The outfield is a beauty. There is some grass on the wicket. Not enough if you are a seamer. Just to keep it together because of the hot weather. The expectation is this will be a good pitch. It is going to be high scoring. Nice little wind blowing across and making things tolerable.
Toss : Faf Du Plessis Delhi skipper in absence of Axar Patel won the toss and chose to bowl with Karun Nair back in the playing XI. Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer batting first made two changes in the playing XI bringing in Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis.
Mustafizur Rehman’s 3-fer restricts DC to 206 for 8 after Shreyas Iyer’s half century and Marcus Stoinis quickfire 44
Priyansh Arya’s stay was a short one as he was hurried into the shot attempting a pull off Mustafizur Rahman and was dismissed for four in the second over. Josh Inglis got PBKS going with a couple of boundaries off Mukesh Kumar while Prabhsimran Singh struggled initially before executing an elegant straight drive for his first boundary.
Inglis struck the first six, whipping a Mustafizur delivery over deep backward square, and also got a reprieve as the bowler put down a tough return chance. Prabhsimran’s two fours off Mohit Sharma was followed by a six and a four for Inglis off Vipraj Nigam. But the legspinner hit back with the wicket of the Australian, thanks to smart glovework from Tristan Stubbs. Shreyas Iyer got a boundary in the same over to help PBKS end the PowerPlay on a good note.
PBKS were 60 for 2 after the powerplay, with the loss of wickets not preventing them from going after the bowling. The sixth over, bowled by Vipraj Nigam, went for 16 runs, with Shreyas Iyer getting off the mark with a boundary through cover. The score was 77 for 3 after eight overs – both Prabhsimran Singh and Josh Inglis fell after cameos – but Shreyas kept PBKS going.
Kuldeep Yadav started his spell with a no-ball and the free-hit was put away for a six by Prabhsimran, who also struck a boundary over cover off Vipraj. But his outing ended when he attempted a cheeky scoop off the leggie only to be bowled for 28. But Kuldeep was leaking runs at the other end, being hit for a six by Shreyas and a four by Nehal Wadhera. Shreyas went over cover off Mohit for a boundary in the 11th over that took PBKS past 100 before getting his second six by dispatching a Kuldeep delivery over long on.
The 41-run stand ended when Mukesh returned into the attack and had Wadhera mistime a loft. Shreyas, though, continued unperturbed, collecting regular boundaries and rotating the strike well, and also used the DRS to reverse a caught-behind decision. He also had a lucky break in the same over as Kuldeep couldn’t hold on to a tough chance. Karun Nair almost took a great catch but had to let the ball go being close to the boundary, giving Shashank Singh a reprieve.
When Kuldeep Yadav floated it outside off, Shreyas twice heaved him for a six. When the length was there from Mohit Sharma to drive, he went over cover. When the length was too short, like from Mukesh Kumar, or too full, like from Vipraj Nigam, Shreyas capitalised with boundaries. He got to his fifty off 33 balls by clipping Mukesh for four to end a 25-run 17th over, but had plenty of support in the death overs.
Mustafizur Rehman bagged the wicket of Shashank in the 16th over and conceded only four runs to keep PBKS in check. But Marcus Stoinis helped his side regain momentum quickly with two sixes and a four off Mukesh while Shreyas ended the over with a four to bring up a 33-ball fifty, with 25 coming off the over. Mohit grassed an opportunity to deny Kuldeep the wicket of Stoinis but he held on to the ball to see the back of Shreyas.
Twenty-six balls were left in PBKS’ innings when Stoinis arrived to bat at No. 7. He faced 16 of those, and crashed 44* with three fours and four sixes. Two leg-side sixes and a drilled drive for four to beat Faf du Plessis at long-off came off Mukesh in the 17th over. Kuldeep threatened to slow PBKS down with two wickets in the 18th, but Stoinis remained unmoved.
He went after Mohit Sharma in the penultimate over of the innings. Mohit had dropped Stoinis when on 18, and paid the price for it. Stoinis went 6, 4, 4, 6 off four of the first five legal balls of the 19th over: a pull over midwicket, a flick to deep square leg, another pull to deep square, and a loft over long-off.
With three balls left, Brar flung Mustafizur Rahman for six over midwicket and took PBKS past 200, their seventh such score this season. But that didn’t prove to be enough, with PBKS still left fighting to play Qualifier 1.
Kuldeep also picked up the wicket of Azmatullah Omarzai and conceded only three runs. But the drop by Mohit proved expensive as he was struck for two sixes and two fours by Stoinis in a 22-run 19th over. Mustafizur started the final over well as he got the wicket of Marco Jansen and gave away only one run off the first three balls. But Harpreet struck a six and two more runs came off the last two balls as PBKS finished in excess of 200.
Sameer Rizvi’s maiden IPL half century and Karun Nair ends Delhi campaign in IPL 2025 with a win
KL Rahul, DC’s impact sub, and skipper Faf du Plessis got the side off to a good start, getting five fours between them in the first four overs. The first six of the innings came off Du Plessis’s bat when he pulled Omarzai over square leg. Rahul struck two more fours in the same over before he hit a six off Harpreet Brar that took DC to 50 in five overs. Rahul hit a four off Jansen but fell soon after, with the change of pace from the bowler doing the trick. Nair ended the PowerPlay with a six in the same over as DC got one more than what PBKS did.
Du Plessis’s innings was halted by Harpreet when he failed to keep a cut down. Sediqullah Atal then struck a big six off Jansen while Praveen Dubey, PBKS’ impact sub, started with a four-run over. Atal got a couple of lucky breaks in Stoinis’ over as Harpreet and Inglis weren’t able to hold on to the ball, and struck a six soon after. His luck finally ran out as Dubey got him to miscue a loft, with Arshdeep making no mistake at long on.
Karun Nair celebrated his recall into India’s Test side after eight years by stylishly swiping Jansen for six first ball. But he only ticked along to 11 off nine balls, until he went 4, 4, 4, 4 off legspinner Praveen Dubey in the 11th over. There was the slog sweep through square leg, the sweep behind square, the pull through midwicket, and the sweep past short fine leg.
That run of boundaries got Nair going, and he launched Jansen for six over mid-off in the 14th over, and late cut Brar for four in the 15th. Nair’s stay ended when he got too across to the left-arm spinner, and saw his leg stump uprooted for 44 of 27 balls to end the over. But with Rizvi set, Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma to come, and the requirement down to 52 off 30 balls, the foundation for DC’s win had been laid.
In the same over, Nair swept thrice and pulled for four successive boundaries, taking DC past 100. A quiet over from Jansen, with only four coming off it, put some pressure on DC. The release came soon – Sameer Rizvi got a lucky boundary and scooped one for a six off Omarzai, and then both Nair and Sameer Rizvi struck maximums off Jansen, with 32 coming off the two overs combined. Nair also hit a four off Harpreet but was bowled soon after, leaving DC needing 52 off 30.
DC required 91 runs to win from the last 46 balls – a required rate of nearly 12 runs an over. From then onwards, Sameer Rizvi went after all kinds of bowling PBKS threw at him – and at crunch moments.
From three off four balls at that stage, he got a top-edged four off a tennis-batted swat off right-arm seamer Azmatullah Omarzai. Next ball, he went low to scoop a short ball after spotting that the fine leg fielder was brought in. The tone was set, and Sameer Rizvi kept playing his shots fearlessly.
Facing the left-arm pace of Marco Jansen, Sameer Rizvi pulled him for six to end the 14th over. That shot kept DC afloat in the chase. But with the required rate once again heading towards two runs per ball, Rizvi swung left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar for a massive six over midwicket. Some luck went Rizvi’s way when an inswinging attempted yorker from Omarzai resulted in an inside-edged four in the 18th over, but he deserved it.
Arshdeep delivered a fine 16th over, conceding only four as the equation came to 48 off 24. A six from Sameer Rizvi and a four for Stubbs, off Harpreet, eased the pressure as 14 came off the 17th over. Sameer Rizvi got to his highest IPL score having struck two fours off Omarzai, bringing it down to 22 off the last two overs.
Sameer Rizvi struck a crucial six off Arshdeep en route to a 22-ball fifty, A reverse lap by Stubbs got him a four and left DC needing only eight in the final over. Rizvi, aptly, finished it off with a six over fine leg off Stoinis as DC ended their campaign with a fine win. Sameer Rizvi even heaved Arshdeep Singh for six, and finished the chase with a sweep off Marcus Stoinis, with the ball nearly gone out of the ground. His unbeaten 58* off 25 balls was his highest IPL score.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Shreyas Iyer the losing PBKS skipper said : It was a fantastic score. There was some odd and variable bounce. It was above-par. I think we weren’t disciplined enough with our lengths. We went overboard with the bouncer. Couldn’t hit the hard length. (on the IPL) It is bigger than the Premier League.
You got to stay positive and calm. You come in with a fresh mindset on the next day. You have to stick to the present. We got to go back to the drawing board. We will look to come in with some strong plans. The finger (on injury concern) should be fine for the next game.
Faf Du Plessis the winning DC skipper said : It is really important. We wanted to finish top four, but finishing in top five was a fair reflection on us. (on where did the campaign go wrong for them) It’s one of the great mysteries, we tried to answer that question a few times in the dressing room. Confidence, lack of runs, when you are playing well, you get to win the small margins.
Every game that small window of 5-6 overs in batting and bowling and in a big tournament like that it cost us. IPL is all about young boys and domestic players, Vippy was amazing for us, not only with ball but bat as well, it’s rare for a legspinner to be an allrounder. Two or three batters in that lineup, if they keep learning and improving, they can go a long way.
Sameer Rizvi Player of the Match for his match winning 58 runs said : It feels really good. The hard work I put in the last 2-3 months has paid off. I did not have the confidence before that I can play like this at this level, but after one innings, that came and now I feel I can do it. When I went in, more than 100 was needed, I looked at my first three-four balls and then played my shots.
Only twice in 22 attempts before Saturday night had Delhi Capitals (DC) successfully chased down a total of 200 or more. By hunting down 207 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Jaipur, they not only saw a 21-year-old Sameer Rizvi hit his maiden IPL fifty in a winning cause but also dented PBKS’ hopes of a top-two finish this season.
The defeat still leaves PBKS at No. 2 on the points table, but with every chance of them finishing third and thus having to play the Eliminator if results in the upcoming matches don’t go their way.
Delhi Capitals put a dent on Punjab Kings’ hopes for a top-two finish as they signed off with a six-wicket win at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Shreyas Iyer’s half-century (53 off 34) and Marcus Stoinis blistering 16-ball 44* powered PBKS to 206 for 8 after they were asked to bat.
DC then came up with a collective batting effort, led by Sameer Rizvi’s maiden IPL fifty (58* off 25) and Karun Nair’s 27-ball 44, to get over the line with three deliveries to spare. PBKS retained the second spot despite the loss but will need a win in their final match against Mumbai Indians to be assured of a top-two finish.
DC end their campaign on a high. They started with four wins in a row and were looking like the team to beat this season. And then it came apart in a disappointing way as they couldn’t even reach the playoffs. But tonight’s win should give them plenty to cheer about. Especially the form of Sameer Rizvi.
He and Karun Nair were battling for one spot this season and both alternated with mixed results. Both played tonight and were instrumental in this win. The openers KL and Faf gave the side a good start and contributions from Karun and a fine match-winning 50 from Sameer Rizvi helped DC ace the chase. 206 was not an easy total to chase despite a good batting wicket here at Jaipur and PBKS like RCB yesterday and GT day before fail to get close to nailing down that top-two spot. It keeps that race very interesting.
GT | lost. RCB | lost. PBKS | lost. The top-three in the points table failing to get closer to that top-two spot. So we won’t know who the top-two are until Tuesday, the 27th of May when the last league game takes place. Will send the eyeballs soaring and the viewership of the IPL sky-rocketing. DC have played their final game in IPL 2025. PBKS, meanwhile, will take on MI on May 26 at the same venue, with the battle for the top-two spots ongoing.
Also Read: PBKS vs DC : Records Galore After PBKS Spectacular Win Over DC