Brilliant Rizvi helps Delhi Capitals down MI
[Reuters] Sameer Rizvi's fine start to this year's Indian Premier League continued after he cracked a superb 90 off 51 balls which helped Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians. Rizvi, who has yet to play international cricket for India at senior level, made 70 not out in Delhi's win over Lucknow Super Giants in their opening match and he eclipsed that score at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The 22-year-old, who has been likened to Suresh Raina in style, looked on course to make the first century of this year's IPL only to be caught at long-off attempting to smack Corbin Bosch over the ropes.
Rizvi whacked seven sixes and seven fours as he claimed back-to-back player of the match awards and the orange cap in his 15th IPL match. "I've worked on my weaknesses, I wasn't as good against fast bowlers," said Rizvi, who took 20 runs off one over from Bosch. "I took time, got set and then played my shots.
I tried to watch the ball as long as possible. If you score runs here, you get a lot of confidence and there are opportunities for us youngsters. " Pathum Nissanka and David Miller chipped in with 44 and 21 not out respectively as the Capitals comfortably chased down MI's total of 162-6 with 11 balls to spare.
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav's 51 off 36 balls had provided the backbone of MI's total while his predecessor as India's T20 captain, Rohit Sharma, made 35 off 26. However, the Capitals had been disciplined with their bowling, spearheaded by Mukesh Kumar, who finished with 2-26 to leave a target well within their grasp. "We were 15 to 20 runs short, but I don't want to take credit away from their bowlers and Rizvi," Yadav said.
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