It was a season of so-close, yet so-far for the Delhi Capitals. However, despite all the shortcomings, we managed to finish the 2025 edition on a high, courtesy of a stellar knock from our rising star Sameer Rizvi.
Delhi Capitals overcame the in-form Punjab Kings in a high-scoring run chase, quite interestingly finishing our season the exact way we began it against LSG in Vizag. Chasing 207 runs, KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Sameer Rizvi produced vital contributions to take us over the line.
Earlier in the day, Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to field first. Faf continued to serve as the stand-in captain as Axar Patel missed the game due to illness.
Mustafizur Rahman gave us an early breakthrough, dismissing Priyansh Arya in the second over. Josh Inglis and Prabhsimran Singh helped PBKS get ahead in the match with some powerful striking, but we pulled things back via Vipraj Nigam, who got both these dangerous batters in quick succession.
PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer’s timely half-century got them sailing through in the middle overs. Towards the end, Marcus Stoinis took them past the 200-mark, setting us a target of 207. Mustafizur Rahman starred with three wickets, while Vipraj and Kuldeep snared two each.
KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis went berserk right from the word go, getting us off to a blazing start. The duo added 55 runs in only 5.3 overs, giving us the perfect start to this big run chase.
Just as KL was looking set for a big knock, he fell for a 21-ball 35, and Faf too was dismissed in the following over. Karun Nair, who earlier in the day made a stellar return to the Indian Test squad, shone with the bat. He built a solid partnership with debutant Sediqullah Atal, who impressed in his maiden outing.
While Karun displayed pure class in his strokeplay, we were left jaw-dropping with some of the shots Sedi pulled off, giving us a great trailer of the feature film that’s up ahead next season. However, the task was still uphill, and the required rate was beginning to touch 12.
That’s when Sameer Rizvi walked out at No.5 and changed the course of this match. The stylish attacking batter tonked them big right from the get-go, showcasing why he is rated so highly in domestic circuit.
Following his 62-run partnership with Karun Nair, the responsibility shifted to Tristan Stubbs and Sameer to secure the victory, which they accomplished with remarkable style.
With 48 runs needed in the last four overs, both batters first smashed 14 runs off Harpreet Brar in the 17th and followed it up with 12 off Azmatullah Omarzai in the next over. Sameer brought up his fifty with a big six in the 19th over, and another boundary from Stubbs meant we needed only eight runs in the final over.
Rizvi swept Stoinis for a massive six over backwards-square to finish the match in style. This victory assured us a fifth-place finish in IPL 2025. While this wasn’t the eventual result we were hoping for, the season showed plenty of promise and set the platform brilliantly for 2026.
We sincerely thank all the Delhi Capitals fans for their relentless support throughout the tournament.
Brief Scores
Punjab Kings 206/8 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 53, Mustafizur Rahman 3/33) lost to Delhi Capitals 208/4 in 19.3 overs (Sameer Rizvi 58*, Karun Nair 44, KL Rahul 35)
Player of the match: Sameer Rizvi
