Published: May 2, 2026 at 11:41 pm
There was no stopping Mumbai Indians’ cup of woes from spilling all over the Chepauk as Chennai Super Kings scored a thumping eight-wicket win in their IPL match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday night.
Chasing a modest 160 for victory, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad scored himself into form with a half-century and Impact Player Kartik Sharma also notched up a half-century as Chennai Super Kings scored the runs in 18.1 overs losing two wickets in the process.
https://x.com/IPL/status/2050625525643932009?s=20
Will Chennai turn things around?
Chennai are in the sixth position with eight points, while Mumbai remain entrenched at the ninth spot with four points. Will Chennai be able to turn things around? They have five games to play and will this match be the turning point in their fortunes for this season. Well, Chennai are still in the reckoning but they need to put up a more consistent show in the remaining games than they have done thus far.
Ruturaj Gaikwad anchored the innings well with a classy 48-ball unbeaten 67 which contained five fours and two sixes
Of late, there has been much criticism that Chennai Super Kings’ batting is a one-man show – Sanju Samson. On Saturday, Ruturaj, Urvil Patel and Karthik rose to the occasion after the early departure of Samson (11).
Ruturaj anchored the innings well with a classy 48-ball unbeaten 67 which contained five fours and two sixes. Urvil slammed two fours and two sixes in his short but effective 12-ball 24. Kartik then scored an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls with four fours and three sixes. He shared a 98-run partnership off 75 balls for the unbroken third wicket with Ruturaj.
Kartik Sharma scored an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls with four fours and three sixes
“I was thinking we have to chase this and finish it. Glad to have done it. Ruturaj said play the game you know, not anything else. Pitch was slow, was holding for the spinners. All shots felt nice,” said Kartik.
https://x.com/IPL/status/2050632466084626534?s=20
Mumbai batters fail to make it count
Electing to bat, Mumbai Indians lost Will Jacks (1) with one on the board. Then followed the best phase of the Mumbai innings as Ryan Rickelton (37; 4×4, 3×6) and Naman Dhir stitched a 58-run partnership off 32 balls before Rickelton perished. Rickelton scored 37 off 21 balls and Dhir made 20 off ll.
Dhir and Suryakumar Yadav then added 40 for the third wicket off 24 balls. Suryakumar began well but could not continue it. His 21 came off 12 balls but it was too good to last long.
Noor Ahmad was the pick of the Chennai Super Kings bowlers
Thereafter, the Mumbai innings went into a reverse gear as the Chennai Super Kings bowlers gained ascendancy. Barring Prashant Veer all the other bowlers had an economy rate of less than 9.
They bottled up the Mumbai batters, who struggled to get the runs. Dhir, who began with a flourish, too slowed down considerably.
https://x.com/IPL/status/2050635280621949426?s=20
Mumbai scored 57 for one in the Power Play but lost steam thereafter. They got 67 for three in the middle overs (7 to 16 overs) and 35 for three in the final four overs. The big-hitting Mumbai Indians struck just 10 sixes in the innings with seven of them coming in the Power Play. Dhir topscored with 57 off 37 balls with four fours and three sixes.
Chennai bowlers bottle up Mumbai batters
Anshul Kamboj finished with three for 32 but it was Noor Ahmed who stemmed the flow of runs with a two for 26 haul. Jamie Overton (1/23) was more than handful for the Mumbai Indians. Ramakrishna Ghosh and Mukesh Choudhary too did well in containing their rivals in the middle overs.
Jamie Overton took one for 23 in his four overs to bottle up Mumbai Indians. Pics: BCCI
“Not the season, I feel. They played better; bowled, fielded and batted better. At one point, we were looking at 180-190. We couldn’t get momentum post-10 overs, not the finish as well. Not easy to play shots early in the innings. It was about playing calculated innings, which they did. We would’ve had to throw fireballs to get them out. We went with our bowling options, they played smart cricket and were better,” said a disappointed Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 159 for seven in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 37, Naman Dhir 57, Suryakumar Yadav 21; Anshul Kamboj 3/32, Noor Ahmad 2/26) lost to Chennai Super Kings 160 for two in 18.1 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 67 not out, Urvil Patel 24, Kartik Sharma 54 not out).
