IPL 2026, DC down LSG in Lucknow: Report and stats
What's the story
Delhi Capitals (DC) downed hosts Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 5 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on Wednesday. Notably, this was LSG and DC's opening contest of the season. The clash took place at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan were the stars for DC, bowling out LSG for 141. In response, despite being 26/4 at one stage, DC aced the chase (145/4).
Pant
'Opener' Pant gets run out in an unfortunate manner
Promoting himself to the top order, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant was run out for seven runs. Mukesh Kumar's slight touch on the ball led to an unfortunate run out as it hit the stumps at the non-striker's end. Pant has not quite made it as an opener. As per Cricbuzz, the former DC skipper's scores read 69 (40), 2 (8), 32 (26), 1 (2), 21 (18), and 7 (9). In six games, he has 132 runs at 22 (SR: 128.15). He owns one fifty.
Game strategy
Axar and T Natarajan strike in the middle overs
DC skipper Axar Patel brought himself on to bowl against the right-handers. He deceived Aiden Markram with a skiddy, angled delivery that cramped his room and bowled him out. This was after hitting him for a six on the previous ball. Ayush Badoni also fell cheaply as he edged a regulation length delivery of T Natarajan slanting away outside off to the keeper while trying to free his arms and go over the infield.
Bowling excellence
Ngidi bounces back Pooran wicket; Marsh plays decent hand
Ngidi bounced back from a rough start to deliver a possible ball of the season. He deceived Nicholas Pooran with a well-disguised dipping slower ball from round the wicket that completely bamboozled him. Meanwhile, Mitchell Marsh did well for LSG with a 35-run knock. However, he perished off Kuldeep Yadav's bowling. LSG were reduced to 71/5 in the 10th over with Marsh's dismissal.
Bowling strategy
Kuldeep, Natarajan dent LSG further
Debutant Mukul Choudhary showed intent early but was removed by Kuldeep with a googly. The left-arm wrist spinner also chipped in with two wickets, helping DC maintain their grip on the game. Abdul Samad put up some resistance until the end but was dismissed by Natarajan for 36 as other batters fell cheaply in the end. Natarajan was particularly impressive, taking his three wickets for just 29 runs in four overs. Ngidi wasn't far behind either, claiming three wickets while conceding only 27 runs in his four overs.
Sixes
Mitchell Marsh surpasses 300 sixes in T20s
Marsh completed 300 sixes in the 20-over format. Marsh hit three sixes and two fours in his knock of 35 off 28 balls. As per ESPNcricinfo, he has now raced to 302 sixes from 234 matches (221 innings). He owns a tally of 6,038 runs at 33.35 (50s: 37, 100s: 4). 78 of his 302 sixes have come in the IPL from 50 innings (56 matches). He owns 1,327 IPL runs.
Duel
Kuldeep Yadav dismisses Mitchell Marsh for 4th time (T20s)
Marsh has fallen to wrist-spinner Kuldeep 4 times in 20 overs cricket. Across six innings, Marsh has 49 runs from 33 balls at 12.25. His strike rate is 148.48, as per ESPNcricinfo. He has faced 13 dot balls in this duel. Meanwhile, Kuldeep has dismissed Marsh once in the IPL across three innings. Marsh owns 23 runs off 17 balls, striking at 135.29.
Duo
Ngidi and Natarajan claim 3-fers versus LSG: Key numbers
Ngidi, who was snapped by DC during the IPL 2026 mini-auction, now owns 32 wickets from 17 matches at 17.37. As per ESPNcricinfo, Ngidi has raced to 223 wickets in the 20-over format from 176 matches (172 innings) at 21.55. On the other hand, veteran Natarajan now has 70 IPL wickets from 64 matches at 29.24. Overall in the format, the left-arm pacer owns a total of 115 scalps from 104 matches at 27.30.
Information
Kuldeep races to 104 IPL scalps
With two wickets against LSG, Kuldeep now has 104 IPL scalps at 26.73. Kuldeep has featured in 99 IPL matches (96 innings) and owns an economy rate of 8.03. Overall, he has picked 243 scalps in 20 overs cricket from 190 matches (185 innings) at 20.56.
Chase
How did DC's chase pan out?
DC lost KL Rahul for a first-ball duck and suffered further blows in the form of Nitish Rana, Pathum Nissanka, and Axar. Sameer Rizvi and South Africa's Tristan Stubbs then got together and put on a recovery mode. It soon turned out to be a match-winning stand of 119* runs off 76 balls. Rizvi, who started slowly, picked up pace and scored an unbeaten 70 off 47 balls. Stubbs managed an unbeaten 39 to help DC seal the deal.
Rahul
KL Rahul records his 11th duck in T20s
Rahul now owns 11 ducks in the 20-over format from 227 innings (240 matches). He has scored 8,125 runs at 42.31 with 68 fifties and 7 hundreds. As many as 5 of his ducks in 20 overs cricket have come in the IPL from 146 matches (137 innings). Rahul owns 5,222 IPL runs at 45.80 with 40 fifties and 5 tons.
Rizvi
2nd IPL fifty from Rizvi's blade
Rizvi smashed 5 fours and 4 sixes in his stay at the crease. He struck at 148.94. Playing his 41st match in 20 overs cricket, Rizvi owns 862 runs at 34.48. He smashed his 5th fifty in the format. 242 of his runs have come in the IPL from 14 matches (10 innings) at 34.57. He smashed his 2nd IPL fifty.
Information
Stubbs closes in on 3,435 runs in 20 overs cricket
Stubbs' 39* had three fours and a six. He now owns 744 runs from 33 IPL games at 43.76. His strike rate is 160.34. In the 20-over format, he has raced to 3,435 runs from 167 matches (148 innings) at 34 (SR: 142.64).
Information
Who were LSG's wicket-takers?
Prince Yadav picked 2/20 from three overs and was the pick of LSG bowlers. Shami picked one wicket for 28 runs from his 4 overs. Mohsin Khan bagged 1/19 from 4 overs. He clocked one maiden.
Stats
Notable records made in this contest
DC clocked their 5th successive win against LSG in the IPL. As per Cricbuzz, they have also done so against Rajasthan Royals (2018-20) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2021-23). 119* runs stand between Rizvi and Stubbs is DC's highest for 5th wicket or lower in IPL. It surpassed the 111* added by Rahul & Stubbs against RCB in Bengaluru last year.
Do you know?
A massive partnership feat for the two DC match-winners
119* runs stand is the second-highest by a pair after being four down for less than 30 runs in an IPL innings. behind 134* runs added by Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan for KKR against Gujarat Lions at Eden Gardens in 2016.
Information
Partnership records for the two
As per ESPNcricinfo, the 119*-run stand is DC's maiden century-plus partnership against LSG in the IPL (any wicket). Overall, this is the 11th century-plus stand against LSG in IPL history. It's also the highest 5th-wicket stand against LSG, bettering the 107* runs between RCB's Mayank Agarwal and Jitesh Sharma last season.