Chennai Super Kings dominated Delhi Capitals to record a thumping eight-wicket win in their Indian Premier League clash in Delhi on Tuesday night.
Superb Sanju Samson (87 not out off 52 balls) ensured there were few jitters for those in yellow, who reeled in a modest target of 156 with 15 balls to spare.
He and Kartik Sharma (41 not out off 31) breezed to an unbroken 114-run stand for the third wicket, after they had restricted their tepid hosts to 155-7.
The ship that sailed us through! ⚓🥳
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 5, 2026
First century partnership for CSK in IPL 2026 🤝#WhistlePodu #DCvCSK pic.twitter.com/n3RgEMZ3Jh
Lungi Ngidi wasted no time on his return from injury, striking in his first over of the Super Kings reply, as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad could only flick to Sameer Rizvi in the deep.
And KL Rahul was quick as a flash to stump Urvil Patel off Axar Patel, with the batter having just lumped Ngidi for back-to-back maximums to end the Power Play.
It was a start that could have caused problems, but Samson had other ideas.
Taking a particular liking to Kuldeep Yadav, he stepped on the gas in the 12th over with consecutive sixes, a gimme four and a steady single to reach his half century in 32 balls.
Calm, composed, and 𝙎𝙖𝙢-𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡! 🔥
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2026
2️⃣7️⃣th #TATAIPL half-century for Sanju Samson 👏
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/f1bRZthndy#KhelBindaas | #DCvCSK | @ChennaiIPL | @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/qoLJg31p9r
Even Mitchell Starc came under fire in his second spell, as the India wicketkeeper conjured up memories of his unbeaten century against Mumbai Indians three games ago.
The 100 partnership came off 61 balls, Kartik adding 31 of them, before the final blast gave them a handy nudge towards the right end of the IPL table.
Earlier, Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs bailed the Capitals out with a 65-run stand that steered them through most of the second half of their innings.
Impact replacement Rizvi struck an unbeaten 40, crashing a quartet of sixes from his 24 balls.
His South African partner, meanwhile, provided steady support in his 31-ball 38 before he clobbered Jamie Overton straight to Mukesh Choudhary at long leg.
It had been a limp-a-long affair until the duo came together at the start of the 12th over, with the tone set when Dewald Brevis caught Pathum Nissanka to stem any early momentum.
Rahul, Nitish Rana and Karun Nair all made starts but failed to go on, as Noor Ahmed picked up 2-22 from his three overs.
Unsung hero Akeal Hosein paved the way for the go-slow, with the experienced slow left-armer turning the screw as well as the ball to finish his set of four with 1-19.
DELHI CAPITALS: KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair, Tristan Stubbs, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan.
Impact Replacements: Vipraj, Rizvi, Porel, Auqib, Miller.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Chowdhary, Gurjapneet Singh.
Impact Replacements: Dube, Veer, Short, Madhwal, Sarfaraz.