Gujarat Titans cruised to an 8-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday in their IPL 2026 encounter. Chasing 159, GT overhauled the target with 20 balls remaining, driven by local star Sai Sudharsan’s superb 87, which rendered CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s lone fight with a half-century meaningless.
Gaikwad lamented the quick fall of wickets early in the game as Chennai went down to Gujarat at home.
GT skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to field against the five-time champions, and the decision paid off straight away as their South African pacer struck in the early overs.
Samson was dismissed for 11 off 15 balls, and Urvil departed soon after for 4 from 3 deliveries. CSK introduced Sarfaraz
Khan as their impact substitute following Urvil’s wicket, but that call also backfired, with Mohammed Siraj sending him back for a golden duck.
“If we hadn’t lost two quick wickets, Mukesh would’ve come in the second innings. But we lost two wickets quickly, which is why we opted for an impact player,” he said.
Young South African Dewald Brevis also failed to settle, managing just 2 runs from 9 balls before being dismissed by Manav Suthar.
“We were lethargic and didn’t start well, but we needed to do better. I got off to a good start, I thought I would keep the momentum, but then we saw 3 wickets fall while we were trying to build a partnership and I wanted to take my time,” he said reflecting on the side’s batting sub-par show on the day.
Shivam Dube then walked in to stabilise the innings and enjoyed a charmed stay, being dropped on 6, 11 and 22 before Arshad Khan eventually bowled him.
Karthik Sharma added a quickfire 15 off 9 balls before Rabada completed his three-wicket haul by removing him, while Jamie Overton, who smashed 18 off just 6 deliveries, was later dismissed by Arshad Khan. Ruturaj remained unbeaten on 74, with Akeal Hosein at the other end, steering CSK to a competitive 158/7.
In response, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill began the chase solidly, putting together 58 in the powerplay before the captain was stumped by Samson off Noor Ahmed for 33 off 23 balls.
Sudharsan, coming off a century in his previous match, followed it up with a composed fifty to anchor GT’s pursuit alongside Jos Buttler. The Tamil Nadu left-hander fell just short of finishing the game when Dewald Brevis took a spectacular catch to dismiss him for 87, after which Buttler, unbeaten on 39, sealed the win and carried GT across the line.
