Rizvi special helps DC sign off with a win

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.

DC required 91 runs to win from the last 46 balls - a required rate of nearly 12 runs an over. From then onwards, 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 Rizvi kept playing his shots fearlessly.

Facing the left-arm pace of Marco Jansen, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.