CSK's All-Round Show: Samson, Kartik, Spinners Too Good

DC: 155/7 in 20 overs, CSK: 159/2 in 17.3 overs Margin: CSK chased 156 in 17.3 overs with 11 balls left. Significance: CSK completed a season double over DC after 23-run win on April 11. CSK now 5 wins, 10 points, 6th on table. Chennai Super Kings came into IPL 2026 with a dodgy look about their bowling attack. They lost three games straight where their bowlers picked up 10 for 588 at an economy rate of 11.37. Since then, there has been an absolutely stunning turnaround. Over the last seven games, CSK's bowlers have scooped up 51 wickets - only Gujarat Titans (52) have more - at an economy rate of 8.15 - which no-one can match. Top scorers: Sameer Rizvi 40_ off 24 balls, 4 sixes. Tristan Stubbs 38 off 31, 1 four, 2 sixes. Pathum Nissanka 19 off 15 CSK bowling: Noor Ahmad 2/22: Got Karun Nair 13 and Nitish Rana 15Akeal Hosein 1/19: Dismissed KL Rahul 12, opened bowling and found grip. Mukesh Choudhary 1/31: Removed Nissanka. Gurjapneet Singh 1/29: Got Axar Patel for 2Jamie Overton 1/5: Dismissed Stubbs to end 65-run 6th wicket stand. Collapse: DC were 69/5 after 11 overs. Stubbs-Rizvi 65-run stand for 6th wicket gave them 155. Anshul Kamboj went for 49 in 4 wicketless overs. With two right-handed openers, CSK had no hesitation in handing the ball to Hosein. When Nissanka fell though, DC sent Nitish Rana out in an effort to either hit Hosein out of the attack or prevent him from coming on. This is how much of a no-no matching a left-arm spinner with a left-handed batter is. But CSK bucked tradition. They gave Akeal a third over. He provided Rahul's wicket and in the end Rana got to face only one ball from Akeal. A dot ball. DC came out of the powerplay 37 for 2. Akeal finished with figures of 4-0-19-1, which is exceptional considering he bowled only one over outside the field restrictions. Kartik Sharma – 41 off 31 Partnership: 114-run stand with Samson for 3rd wicket. Earlier Sportstar said 118-run stand. Cameo: Hit six + four off Starc in 17th over. 100-run partnership milestone in 17th over. Early wickets: Urvil Patel 17 off 9, stumped by KL Rahul off Axar Patel in 7th overCSK 49/2 after 6.1 ov: Samson 17_, Kartik 4_DC bowling: Axar Patel 1 wicket, Lungi Ngidi returned from injury. Being in the form of his life is one thing, but to go out there knowing he is his team's best hope for runs and managing risk accordingly is something else. Samson has always had aura. Now he has the output. For the first three games this season, he made 22 runs at an average of 7.33 and a strike rate of 116. The next seven, he's made 380 at an average of 95 and strike rate of 172. Samson held fire initially. He was 22 off 22 at the eighth over. Ten balls later, he was on fifty. Eventually, he was even entertaining thoughts of a hundred. A highlight of his game was the way he took down spin - 12 off 10 against Axar with one six and 25 off 9 against Kuldeep Yadav with three sixes and a four. CSK won a 12 vs 11 game - because they didn't even need the impact player - with 15 balls remaining and got a net run-rate boost that could be vital as the season nears the playoffs. Bottom line: CSK spinners Noor + Akeal set it up by keeping DC to 155 on a pitch that gripped. Samson’s 87* + Kartik’s 41 finished a clinical chase. CSK do the double over DC and stay in playoff race. Ngidi returned for DC but couldn’t stop Samson. Chennai Super Kings 159 for 2 (Samson 87*, Kartik 41*) beat Delhi Capitals 155 for 7 (Rizvi 40, Noor 2-33, Hosein 1-19) by eight wickets