Updated on: Apr 01, 2026 4:40:15 PM IST
Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals LIVE Score: Rishabh Pant leads LSG in their season opener vs DC.
Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals LIVE Score: After RCB ended their long title drought last year, three teams were left over in the IPL who have not yet had the chance to raise the trophy. Two of those meet on April Fool’s Day at the Ekana Stadium, as Lucknow Super Giants host Delhi Capitals to bring the first round of fixtures in this season to a close.
With all eight of the other teams having played, the IPL table will begin to take shape after this season. Heading into 2026, it is a question of belief and how far the teams are willing to dig to try and end that barren spell. For Lucknow, it is still somewhat excusable – the team is only entering its fifth season, having made the playoffs in its first two years, and is still trying to find its identity. A logo rebrand and a big jersey change are indicative of this: Rishabh Pant’s team is not one that is afraid to be experimental, to go against the grain, and to ruffle a few feathers if that is what is needed for success.
For Delhi Capitals, it has been an era of frustration. The team last made the playoffs in 2021, and their only final in 2020: in the four years since, Delhi have been there or thereabouts, regularly a quality team and capable of winning plenty of games, but somehow never making the playoffs. In 2025, Axar Patel’s team spent the first half looking like the team to beat, but followed that up with an almighty implosion as everything that worked stopped working.
On paper and based off the T20 pedigree in the team, DC should be amongst the favourites for this tournament, with a terrifically balanced squad and depth in every position. But the habit of winning games is so important in the IPL – RCB’s title charge in 2025 was built on winning six consecutive league games in the backend of 2024, which gave them confidence to go on and lift the trophy. DC have never quite managed to find that groove, going all the way back to the inaugural 2008 tournament. Winning can be a habit, but so can losing: it’s time DC change that.
In Lucknow, LSG are trying to continue the trend of home teams winning that has been the case so far this tournament. Their top four will have their three immensely powerful overseas batters, but it is the order in which they will bat that will be key to see: Rishabh Pant up to number three, or will Nicholas Pooran retain his spot there? LSG then have a surfeit of Indian seamers in their ranks, led by fit-again Mohammed Shami and Mayank Yadav: Anrich Nortje is in line to wrap up that pace battery, and if they manage to click, it begins to look like a very dangerous unit.
Digvesh Rathi will lead the spinners, but LSG’s weakness is their middle order batting. If DC can spark some early wickets, they will believe they are ahead in the game. But no Mitchell Starc means DC are suffering from a big blow: a lot rests on the shoulders of Auqib Nabi, who will want to make a case for a spot in the Indian Test team and knows the bright lights of the IPL is the place to make it. DC’s bowling relies on their phenomenal spin group, which is arguably the best in the league, but their seamers were an issue in 2025 – DC were the worst team in the league at taking powerplay wickets. Can new-ball star Nabi solve that?
In the batting, KL Rahul verses one of his former teams, and as does new addition David Miller in the middle order. DC don’t have the power to burn that LSG do, but they have quality batting all the way down to number eight – and the additional length to their lineup will allow players like David Miller and Tristan Stubbs to tee off through the middle overs.
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With all eight of the other teams having played, the IPL table will begin to take shape after this season. Heading into 2026, it is a question of belief and how far the teams are willing to dig to try and end that barren spell. For Lucknow, it is still somewhat excusable – the team is only entering its fifth season, having made the playoffs in its first two years, and is still trying to find its identity. A logo rebrand and a big jersey change are indicative of this: Rishabh Pant’s team is not one that is afraid to be experimental, to go against the grain, and to ruffle a few feathers if that is what is needed for success.
For Delhi Capitals, it has been an era of frustration. The team last made the playoffs in 2021, and their only final in 2020: in the four years since, Delhi have been there or thereabouts, regularly a quality team and capable of winning plenty of games, but somehow never making the playoffs. In 2025, Axar Patel’s team spent the first half looking like the team to beat, but followed that up with an almighty implosion as everything that worked stopped working.
On paper and based off the T20 pedigree in the team, DC should be amongst the favourites for this tournament, with a terrifically balanced squad and depth in every position. But the habit of winning games is so important in the IPL – RCB’s title charge in 2025 was built on winning six consecutive league games in the backend of 2024, which gave them confidence to go on and lift the trophy. DC have never quite managed to find that groove, going all the way back to the inaugural 2008 tournament. Winning can be a habit, but so can losing: it’s time DC change that.
In Lucknow, LSG are trying to continue the trend of home teams winning that has been the case so far this tournament. Their top four will have their three immensely powerful overseas batters, but it is the order in which they will bat that will be key to see: Rishabh Pant up to number three, or will Nicholas Pooran retain his spot there? LSG then have a surfeit of Indian seamers in their ranks, led by fit-again Mohammed Shami and Mayank Yadav: Anrich Nortje is in line to wrap up that pace battery, and if they manage to click, it begins to look like a very dangerous unit.
Digvesh Rathi will lead the spinners, but LSG’s weakness is their middle order batting. If DC can spark some early wickets, they will believe they are ahead in the game. But no Mitchell Starc means DC are suffering from a big blow: a lot rests on the shoulders of Auqib Nabi, who will want to make a case for a spot in the Indian Test team and knows the bright lights of the IPL is the place to make it. DC’s bowling relies on their phenomenal spin group, which is arguably the best in the league, but their seamers were an issue in 2025 – DC were the worst team in the league at taking powerplay wickets. Can new-ball star Nabi solve that?
In the batting, KL Rahul verses one of his former teams, and as does new addition David Miller in the middle order. DC don’t have the power to burn that LSG do, but they have quality batting all the way down to number eight – and the additional length to their lineup will allow players like David Miller and Tristan Stubbs to tee off through the middle overs.
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Apr 01, 2026 4:40:15 PM IST
LSG vs DC LIVE Score, IPL 2026: Is this the year for two trophyless teams?
LSG vs DC LIVE Score, IPL 2026: After RCB’s success last year, only three IPL teams reain with cobwebs in their trophy cabinet. Punjab Kings, who started their season with a win yesterday, and this pair of teams – 18-year also-rans in Delhi Capitals who will be anxious to drop that tag, and Lucknow Super Giants, looking for their own identity and sense of belonging in the richest cricket league. For both teams, every season promises something more, but who can actually convert?
Apr 01, 2026 4:26:34 PM IST
LSG vs DC LIVE Score, IPL 2026: HELLO AND WELCOME!
LSG vs DC LIVE Score, IPL 2026: Eight of the ten IPL teams have gotten their campaigns underway, and at the Ekana Stadium tonight, LSG and DC prepare to round out the set. Two familiar foes, with very similar goals – but tonight, there can only be one winner.
