Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in Match 7 of Indian Premier League 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, April
03.
Being put into bat, CSK did well to get to 209/5 at the end of their 20 overs. were dealt an early blow as Sanju Samson was dismissed cheaply. Ayush Mhatre then joined captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, as the pair stabilised the innings. Mhatre, the accelerator in the partnership, chipped away at the score while also taking on the bowlers. Mhatre was dismissed for 73, off just 43 balls, an innings which set the backbone of the Punjab innings.
Mhatre’s dismissal brought in Sarfaraz Khan, whose brilliant 12-ball 32 accelerated Chennai’s score forward. His innings, filled with audacious ramps and cleverly disguised dabs, was a glimpse of the talent that had broken out at Bengaluru all those years back.
Shivam Dube, who came on after Ruturaj’s dismissal, got going in the back end of the innings, taking Chennai’s score past 200. He went from a run-a-ball 14 in the at the end of the 17th over, finishing unbeaten with 45, off just 27 balls, at the end of the innings. Vijaykumar Vyshak, given a more prominent role, was the pick of the bowlers, with 2/34 from his four overs, ably backed up by the experienced Yuzvendra Chahal.
In response, PBKS came out all guns blazing, with Priyansh Arya scoring an 11-ball 39, which set the platform for the chase, in the powerplay itself. Punjab got to 68/1 at the end of the powerplay, with Arya falling to Matt Henry. Cooper Connolly, fresh off his coming-of-age knock against the Gujarat Titans, scored 36, before falling to Anshul Kamboj in the 12th over.
From that point on, Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer then took on the Chennai Super Kings bowlers, getting to a brilliant half-century, off just 26 balls. His innings took Punjab closer to the total, needing 24 runs from the last 18 balls when he fell.
Here are the most important stats from Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings
- Most times a team has chased down 200+ totals in IPL: Punjab Kings - 9
- Second most consecutive wins for an away team at Chepauk: Punjab Kings - 4
- Youngest player to score an IPL 50 at Chepauk: Ayush Mhatre - 18y, 261d
- 3rd-highest score for a batter in IPL before turning 19: Ayush Mhatre - 73(43)
- Joint 2nd-most 50+ scores in IPL before turning 19: Ayush Mhatre - 2
- The joint-most time a team has scored 200+ against a single opponent: CSK vs PBKS - 6 (also vs RCB)
- 2nd time in IPL history that CSK have fielded 4 players aged 21 or younger: Noor Ahmed, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Ayush Mhatre
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Second highest successful chase for PBKS in IPL history: 210/5
