IPL 2026: Ruturaj Gaikwad's CSK complete the double over MI
What's the story
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) displayed an impressive all-round performance against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 44 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on Saturday. The match held at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, saw MI managed 159/7 in 20 overs. Despite being well-placed at 90/2 after the first half of their innings, MI struggled in the latter half. In response, fifties from skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kartik Sharma helped CSK win by 8 wickets.
Match breakdown
Rickelton's counter-attacking knock, poor start for MI
MI opted to bat first but had a shaky start against CSK at Chepauk. The openers struggled as CSK's bowlers kept things tight in the powerplay. Mukesh Choudhary and Anshul Kamboj were on target from the start, with Kamboj accounting for Will Jacks's wicket in the 2nd over. Ryan Rickelton counter-attacked with a quick 37 off 24 balls, hitting five sixes to boost MI's scoring rate during this phase.
Key player
Naman Dhir shines for MI after early wickets
Naman Dhir played a crucial role in anchoring MI's innings after early setbacks. He got a reprieve on 19 in the seventh over off Noor Ahmad, who later dismissed Rickelton in the same over. Suryakumar Yadav came next but was sent back to the pavilion by Ramakrishna Ghosh for 21 in the 11th over. Dhir and Suryakumar added 40 runs for the 3rd wicket. Tilak Varma then joined Dhir but fell cheaply as MI were reduced to 109/4.
Late collapse
Dhir departs as MI lose momentum in final overs
MI's innings lost steam in the final overs, with Jamie Overton dismissing Dhir for a well-made 57. Robin Minz came next but was cleaned up by Kamboj in the following over. CSK's bowlers dominated the latter half of MI's innings, with Kamboj leading the charge with three wickets. Noor picked up two while Ramakrishna Ghosh and Jamie Overton chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Kamboj
Kamboj shines in his 50th T20 outing
Kamboj finished with figures worth 3/32 from his 4 overs. Kamboj now owns 17 wickets in the IPL 2026 season from 9 matches at 15.76. He is the joint-highest wicket-taker alongside RCB's Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Overall in the IPL, he has picked 27 wickets from 20 matches at 20.55. In two IPL games against MI, Kamboj has claimed 4 scalps at 10.5 (ER: 6). As per ESPNcricinfo, this was Kamboj's 50th T20 match. He has picked 72 wickets at 18.45 (ER: 8.24).
Rickelton
Rickelton gets to 42 sixes in the IPL
Rickelton scored 37 off 24 balls. He hit five sixes with his strike rate being 154.17. As per Cricbuzz, Rickelton became the 3rd MI batter to hit 5-plus sixes inside the powerplay. In 21 IPL games, Rickelton owns 685 runs at 36.05. He has hit 42 sixes. Overall in T20s, the Proteas batter has hit 4,547 runs from 162 matches (155 innings) at 32.02.
Dhir
MI's Naman Dhir slams his 3rd half-century in IPL
Dhir stood tall for MI with a knock of 57 from 37 balls. He smashed four fours and three sixes. Dhir raced to 625 IPL runs from 32 matches (28 innings) at 28.4. This was his third fifty. His strike rate is 166.66. In 9 matches this season, Dhir owns 233 runs at 29.12. He slammed his 2nd fifty of the season. As per ESPNcricinfo, Dhir owns 1,137 T20 runs from 56 games at 26.44. He clobbered his 5th fifty.
Information
Noor excels for CSK
Noor was both economical and amongst the wickets. He claimed 2/26 from 4 overs. In 205 T20 matches, he now owns 238 scalps at 22.61. As many as 57 of his T20 scalps have come in the IPL at 23.63.
Chase
How did CSK's chase pan out?
CSK lost Sanju Samson (11) early on with Jasprit Bumrah accounting for his wicket. Urvil Patel came in and forged a 49-run stand for the 2nd wicket alongside Gaikwad. Allah Ghazanfar removed Patel in the 6th over with CSK being 62/2. Thereafter, Gaikwad and Kartik added an unbeaten 98-run stand to steer CSK past MI.
Do you know?
Bumrah gets Samson for the 3rd time in IPL
Bumrah claimed 1/20 from his three overs. Notably, he went on to dismiss Samson for the 3rd time in IPL. Across 15 innings, Samson has scored 89 runs off 79 balls at 29.66. His strike rate is 112.65. Bumrah has bowled 35 dot balls.
Gaikwad
Gaikwad gets to 200 sixes in T20 cricket
Gaikwad brought up 200 sixes in T20 cricket. The opener attained the milestone with his second maximum of the contest. He scored an unbeaten 67 off 48 balls, slamming five fours and two sixes. According to ESPNcricinfo, Gaikwad took 160 games and 154 innings to complete 200 T20 sixes. Meanwhile, Gaikwad went past 500 fours in T20s (502). He owns 5,247 runs at 38.86. This was his 37th fifty in T20s (100s: 6).
Information
Gaikwad slams his 22nd fifty in IPL
With this knock of 67*, Gaikwad now owns 2,747 runs from 80 IPL games at 39.81. He hit his 22nd IPL fifty (100s: 2). Notably, the CSK ace surpassed 250 IPL fours (253). He also has 103 sixes.
Do you know?
Kartik shines for CSK with maiden IPL fifty
Kartik remained unbeaten on 54 off 40 balls. He hit four fours and three sixes. This was his maiden IPL fifty. Interestingly, he is playing in his maiden IPL campaign. He has scored 112 runs from six games at 22.40.
H2H
Double for CSK over MI and H2H record
With this win, CSK completed the double over MI in IPL 2026. They had earlier tamed MI at the Wankhede Stadium this season. In terms of the H2H record, CSK now own 20 wins against MI from 41 matches (L21). At Chepauk, this was the 10th meeting between the two sides. The win-loss record is 5-5.
Information
A look at the points table
CSK are placed sixth with 8 points on board. From 9 games, they own 4 wins and 5 defeats. MI are 9th in the 10-team standings. This was their 7th defeat of the season (W2).
Records
Notable records made in the contest
The eight-wicket win is the CSK's biggest against MI in the IPL, as per Cricbuzz. This is the third time CSK went on to achieve a league double over MI in an IPL season after 2014, and 2023. At the age of 20y 6d, Kartik is the second-youngest CSK batter to score an IPL fifty after Ayush Mhatre (17y 291d).