New Delhi: Rishabh PantA bold move to open the innings did not go as planned as Lucknow Supergiants slumped to a defeat against Delhi Capitals in their IPL 2026 opener, raising questions over their up-tempo character.Pant’s outing ended with a strange run out in the third over. Direct drive from Mitchell Marsh Mukesh Kumar turns towards the stumps, catches Pant well at the non-striker’s end. The LSG captain, who scored 7 runs off 9 balls, left visibly disappointed after the unfortunate dismissal.
Reflecting on the moment, Pant said, “I think the best way to recover from it is to ignore it. I think the best way is to move on because you know something like that, you can’t control, but thinking about it definitely puts you on the back foot.” He also admitted that the team struggled to build partnerships: “Look, that’s always the case, but you know the way we batted, we couldn’t get partnerships for long.”Top progression breaking Pant’s established pair Aidan Markram And Marsh, raised an eyebrow. On whether he would continue as an opener, he said, “I think it’s a 50-50 call, but we’ll see, but definitely see me in the top order.”LSG’s batting failed miserably, managing just 141 in 18.4 overs despite Markram’s opening and Marsh’s 35. Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan took three wickets each, while Kuldeep Yadav bagged the important hits.
Rizvi, Stubbs sealed the win for DC
Chasing 142, Delhi were in early trouble before Sameer Rizvi (70*) and Tristan Stubbs (39*) put on a match-winning 119-run partnership. Rizvi’s fearless hitting turned the game around as DC chased down the target in 17.1 overs.With the initial experiment failing and LSG’s batting misfires, Pant now faces a critical call on his position going forward.
