'Not Our Season!' Hardik Pandya Crestfallen After CSK Rout MI Twice In IPL 2026

Chennai Super Kings cruised to an 8-wicket victory over arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, securing their second win of the season over the fellow five-time IPL champions.

After restricting Mumbai to 159/7, thanks largely to a three-wicket haul from Anshul Kamboj, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and youngster Kartik Sharma struck composed half-centuries to seal the chase with 11 balls remaining.

MI’s campaign changed from bad to worse with their defeat in Chennai and skipper Hardik Pandya was disheartened at another unsuccessful outing in a trying season.

“Not our season. They played better, they bowled better, they fielded better and they batted better,” the skipper conceded.

“We couldn’t get the momentum.

It was more about playing calculative cricket. Overall, as a bowling unit, they were better and as a batting unit, we weren’t better,” he added.

Put to field first, CSK struck early as Will Jacks departed for just 1 after debutant Ramakrishna Ghosh pulled off a brilliant catch off Kamboj’s bowling. Ryan Rickelton and Naman Dhir then stabilised the innings with a 58-run stand before Rickelton fell to Noor Ahmed for 37 off 24 deliveries immediately after the powerplay.

Ghosh’s night improved further when he claimed his first IPL wicket, dismissing Suryakumar Yadav for 21. Noor then picked up his second scalp by removing Tilak Varma for 5, with Gaikwad taking the catch.

Naman Dhir held the innings together, bringing up his second fifty of the season, before Jamie Overton deceived him with a slower ball, with Sarfaraz Khan completing a stunning catch. Kamboj rounded off an excellent spell by dismissing Robin Minz and Pandya for 5 and 18 respectively, as MI were held to 159/7 in their 20 overs.

In reply, CSK opened with Sanju Samson and Gaikwad. Samson, who had earlier scored a century against Mumbai at the Wankhede, was removed for 11 by Jasprit Bumrah. Urvil Patel then injected momentum with a brisk 24 off 12 balls before being bowled by Allah Ghazanfar. From there, Kartik Sharma joined Gaikwad, and the pair steadied the chase with a solid partnership, taking the hosts past 100 shortly after the halfway stage.

Gaikwad completed his second consecutive half-century with a controlled knock, while Kartik kept the scoreboard moving at the other end. The duo accelerated smoothly, maintaining control of the chase and never allowing the required rate to become an issue.

Gaikwad finished unbeaten on 67, and Kartik brought up his maiden fifty for CSK with 54*, guiding the team to a comfortable win with 8 wickets in hand.