LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Impact player substitute Sameer Rizvi struck a half-century as Delhi Capitals overcame a top-order order collapse and beat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets in its opening game of the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Rizvi anchored Delhi to 145-4 in 17.1 overs with an unbeaten 70 off 47 balls after coming in for Thangarasu Natarajan in the fourth over.
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Delhi Capitals' Lungi Ngidi, right, celebrates with teammates the dismissal of Lucknow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Delhi Capitals' Lungi Ngidi, right, listens to captain Axar Patel before bowling his next delivery during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Delhi Capitals' Sameer Rizvi, right, and batting partner Tristan Stubbs encourage each other during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Delhi Capitals' Sameer Rizvi bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Lucknow had earlier collapsed to 141 all in 18.4 overs after Delhi skipper Axar Patel won the toss on a wicket where fast bowlers found plenty of swing with the new ball.
Delhi ran into early trouble in the chase when it collapsed to 26-4 in the fifth over before Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs (39 not out) of South Africa featured in a match-winning 119-run stand.
“Playing at home, you know the conditions and that helped as my state league takes place here,” Rizvi said. “Stubbs said ‘respect the conditions’ (and) once we were set, we knew we could play our natural game.”
Lokesh Rahul got dismissed on Mohammad Shami’s first ball when he holed out at deep point while going for an extravagant inside shot over the cover, and pace bowler Mohsin Khan found the outside edge of Nitish Rana’s bat.
Fast bowler Prince Yadav then picked up the wickets of Sri Lankan Pathum Nissanka, who skied a mistimed pull to diving wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, and clean bowled Patel of the next ball before Rizvi and Stubbs revived the chase.
Rizvi was the aggressor of the two, hitting four sixes and five boundaries while Stubbs’ 32-ball knock featured three fours and a six.
Earlier, Lucknow struggled from the onset against the pace of Mukesh Kumar (0-17) in the power play while Lungi Ngidi (3-27) and Natarajan (3-29) intelligently varied their pace.
Pant promoted himself as an opener but was run-out in the third over when Kumar couldn’t hold onto a sharp return catch of Mitchell Marsh, but the ball deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Pant out of crease.
“Best way to recover from my dismissal is to ignore it as you can’t control it,” Pant said. "The way we batted, we couldn’t get a partnership for long ... there was enough help with the new ball, but you can’t put pressure on the opposition with 140."
Marsh made 35 off 28 before he holed out to mid-off against Kuldeep Yadav’s (2-31) googly in the 10th over. Ngidi, bowling round the wicket, baffled experienced Nicholas Pooran with a dipping slower ball as the West Indian left-hander tried to flick but missed the line completely and was clean bowled for run-a-ball 8.
Abdul Samad charged briefly and top-scored with 36 off 25 balls before falling to Natarajan in the 18th over as Ngidi polished off the tail quickly with two more slower balls to tailenders Anrich Nortje and Khan.
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Delhi Capitals' Lungi Ngidi, right, celebrates with teammates the dismissal of Lucknow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Delhi Capitals' Lungi Ngidi, right, listens to captain Axar Patel before bowling his next delivery during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Delhi Capitals' Sameer Rizvi, right, and batting partner Tristan Stubbs encourage each other during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Delhi Capitals' Sameer Rizvi bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.
The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.
But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”
U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.
The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.
Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.
Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”
About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.
The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.
But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.
Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.
Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”
Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with journalists during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, front second left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, front left, speak with each other during a group photo at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte look at each other as they deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže speaks at the doorstep of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at Sea U in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives with his wife Jeanette at Malmo Airport, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Malmo-Sturup, Sweden, ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, second from left, shakes hands with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, as he is greeted by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard, right, before a dinner at Sofiero Castle in Helsingborg, Sweden, Thursday May 21 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
