Chennai Super Kings are firmly back in the race. An eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday night moves CSK to 10 points, just two behind a cluster of teams on 12, with favourable fixtures still to come. On a sticky surface that rewarded patience and precision, their bowlers suffocated DC into 155 for 7 before Sanju Samson and Kartik Sharma made the chase look entirely one-sided, wrapping up the win with 15 balls remaining.
The turnaround in CSK’s bowling this season has been one of the more remarkable stories in IPL 2026. After conceding 588 runs for just 10 wickets across their opening three games, their bowlers have now taken 51 wickets across the last seven at an economy rate of 8.15, the best in the competition over that stretch.
How Chennai Super Kings Dismantled Delhi’s Innings
The tone was set within the first over. Akeal Hosein found grip and turn immediately on a surface where timing the ball was a genuine struggle, and Ruturaj Gaikwad quickly backed that judgment by giving him three powerplay overs. Hosein kept KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka on a tight leash throughout, eventually forcing Rahul into a desperate loft that was picked off at mid-off. Mukesh Choudhary removed Nissanka at the other end, and DC were in trouble at 37 for 2 after six overs.
The middle overs brought no relief. Noor Ahmad removed Nitish Rana and Karun Nair, while Gurjapneet Singh’s hard lengths trapped Axar Patel, who has managed just 33 runs all season at a strike rate of 97, a stark fall from his 263-run campaign last year. DC slid to 69 for 5 in the 11th over before Sameer Rizvi, brought on as the impact substitution, and Tristan Stubbs put on 65 off 47 balls to drag the total to 155. Rizvi’s 40, built on smart footwork against spin and clever use of the pace, was DC’s most enterprising contribution. A 20-run final over off Anshul Kamboj added some late gloss to a total that still felt short.
Sanju Samson Picks His Moments and Picks DC Apart
Gaikwad fell early to Lungi Ngidi, who has now dismissed him three times in just 17 balls across T20 cricket. Urvil Patel provided a brief powerplay spark before Noor bowled him. The chase then belonged entirely to Samson and Kartik.
Samson was measured early, sitting on 22 off 22 balls at the eighth over. Then he identified his targets and attacked them with ruthless clarity. He took 25 off 9 balls against Kuldeep Yadav, hitting three sixes and a four, and followed that with 27 off 8 against T. Natarajan. Those two passages of play ended the contest as a contest. Kuldeep, unable to maintain consistency, conceded 34 across his spell and effectively handed CSK the game. Kartik, unbeaten on 41 off 31, was a confident and composed presence alongside Samson, whose 87 not out off 52 was as controlled as it was dominant.
CSK won without needing their impact player. They climb to sixth on the table and return to Chepauk on Sunday to face Lucknow Super Giants. The momentum, for the first time this season, feels genuinely theirs.
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