IPL 2026 Today's Match: LSG vs DC playing 11, batters vs bowlers matchups

Heading into the new season, both LSG and DC will be desperate not just for a winning start but for consistency across phases, something that eluded them last year

Aditya Kaushik New Delhi

5 min read Last Updated : Apr 01 2026 | 7:13 PM IST

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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Delhi Capitals (DC) bring the curtain down on the opening set of IPL 2026 fixtures as they face off at the Ekana Cricket Stadium today. Both teams enter the new season with unfinished business after enduring eerily similar campaigns last year. DC skipper Axar Patel won the toss for the match and invited Rishab Pant-led LSG to bat first.

IPL 2026: LSG vs DC playing 11 LSG playing 11: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (C/wk), Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Mohsin Khan, Mohammed Shami, Anrich Nortje, Prince Yadav Impact players: Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akshat Raghuvanshi DC playing 11: KL Rahul (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Vipraj Nigam, Axar Patel (C), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar Impact players: Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair

Delhi began IPL 2025 in red-hot form, winning five of their first six matches, only to lose steam dramatically with just two wins in their next eight games, ultimately missing out on the playoffs. Lucknow’s story followed a comparable arc: four wins early on were followed by a prolonged slump, as they slipped to a seventh-place finish. IPL 2026 Match 5, LSG vs DC: LIVE SCORE | FULL SCORECARD | LIVE STREAMING

Heading into the new season, both sides will be desperate not just for a winning start but for consistency across phases, something that eluded them last year.

LSG’s batting once again revolves around their experienced batting line-up. However, concerns linger over their bowling depth, which appears relatively thin on paper. Skipper Rishabh Pant’s form will also be under scrutiny, as Lucknow look to rediscover their balance.

Delhi, meanwhile, appears slightly more settled, with a strong Indian core providing stability. While the absence of Mitchell Starc weakens their new-ball attack, DC possess enough depth and variety to compensate in the early stages of the tournament.

With both teams aiming to avoid a repeat of last season’s mid-tournament collapses, this contest could set the tone for what lies ahead.

But before the two sides finally take the field, let’s take a look at the captaincy record of both skippers, their expected playing 11 combinations and key player match-ups for the game.

Rishabh Pant’s captaincy record in IPL (LSG)

Matches: 57
Wins: 29
Losses: 27
N/R: 1
Win percentage: 50.87%

Axar Patel's captaincy record in IPL (DC)

Matches: 14
Wins: 7
Losses: 6
N/R: 1
Win percentage: 53.84%

LSG squad for IPL 2026:

Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Arshin Kulkarni, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Maharaj Singh, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Arjun Sachin Tendulkar, Mayank Prabhu Yadav, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Josh Inglis, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Mukul Choudhary

DC squad for IPL 2026:

Abhishek Porel, KL Rahul, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Tripurana Vijay, David Miller, Auqib Nabi Dar, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Jadav Mandal, T Natarajan, Madhav Tiwari, Karun Nair, Sahil Parakh

IPL 2026: LSG vs DC key player battles

LSG batters vs DC bowlers

Batter (LSG)	Bowler (DC)	Runs	Balls	Outs	SR	Avg
Rishabh Pant	Kuldeep Yadav	54	41	3	131.7	18
Rishabh Pant	Mukesh Kumar	36	22	1	163.63	36
Nicholas Pooran	Kuldeep Yadav	62	39	2	158.97	31
Nicholas Pooran	Lungi Ngidi	48	26	1	184.61	48
Mitchell Marsh	Axar Patel	44	31	2	141.93	22
Mitchell Marsh	Kuldeep Yadav	29	21	2	138.09	14.5
Aiden Markram	Axar Patel	35	28	1	125	35
Aiden Markram	Kuldeep Yadav	22	19	1	115.78	22
Ayush Badoni	Kuldeep Yadav	18	14	1	128.57	18
Abdul Samad	Axar Patel	20	13	1	153.84	20
Shahbaz Ahmed	Kuldeep Yadav	12	11	1	109.09	12

DC batters vs LSG bowlers

Batter (DC)	Bowler (LSG)	Runs	Balls	Outs	SR	Avg
KL Rahul	Avesh Khan	68	49	2	138.77	34
KL Rahul	Anrich Nortje	52	33	1	157.57	52
KL Rahul	Mayank Yadav	14	10	1	140	14
David Miller	Avesh Khan	61	34	1	179.41	61
David Miller	Anrich Nortje	47	29	2	162.06	23.5
Tristan Stubbs	Avesh Khan	33	18	1	183.33	33
Tristan Stubbs	Mayank Yadav	16	9	1	177.77	16
Axar Patel	Avesh Khan	28	21	1	133.33	28
Abhishek Porel	Mayank Yadav	12	8	1	150	12
Karun Nair	Shahbaz Ahmed	26	19	1	136.84	26