Sanju Samson notched up his fifth IPL ton in the MI vs CSK match.
The Chennai Super Kings have outclassed their fellow five-time winners, Mumbai Indians, in the MI vs CSK IPL 2026 game to hand the hosts their biggest defeat (by runs) in the tournament’s history. Let’s take a look at 3 key takeaways from the MI vs CSK match.
After a few early hiccups in his new journey with CSK, it seems that Sanju Samson has now been settled in the yellow outfit, notching up his second ton of the season. Earlier, coming off a few successive match-winning shows that played a key role in India’s T20 title defence at home, the opener started off the IPL 2026 with three back-to-back single-digit scores.
But the Kerala batter ended the run drought with a spectacular 115 not out against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in front of an electrifying Chennai crowd. Two matches later, Samson followed this up with yet another unbeaten century tonight against their arch-rivals, MI. His free-flowing knock of 101* came off only 54 deliveries, striking at a blistering rate of 187.03, laced with a total of 10 boundaries and six maximums.
The Caribbean spinner was not initially included in the CSK playing XI for the match. But coming in as an impact player during the second innings, Akeal Hosein left his mark with four crucial scalps in each of his overs to thrash the MI line-up. After conceding a six off his second delivery of the match, he staged a brilliant comeback to dismiss opener Danish Malewar for a golden duck.
The bowler followed it up by bowling a wicket maiden in his next over, refraining Naman Dhir from opening his account in the MI vs CSK match. While making a return to the attack, Akeal dismissed MI’s last fixture’s centurion, Tilak Varma, and Suryakumar Yadav, in consecutive overs to finish with an excellent figure of 4-1-17-4.
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The formidable MI line-up has been seen to struggle in the last few matches, and the management would want to find the answers soon to keep their IPL 2026 playoff hopes alive. In their last clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT), Tilak’s extraordinary ton and a 45-run knock from Dhir had powered them to 199/5. But the rest of the batters managed only 46 runs from 43 balls.
MI’s latest home match before the CSK clash also witnessed a similar show. Being put to bat first, a sublime hundred from Quinton de Kock, backed by a half-century from Dhir, fuelled the hosts to register 195/6 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). But the others in the line-up scored just 25 off 37 deliveries.
The five-time champions would want to bring back their former captain Rohit Sharma in the playing XI as soon as possible. But the management is yet to reveal the potential timeline for the opener’s return to action, who previously sustained a hamstring injury on April 12.
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