Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Sanju Samson led the chase as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by eight wickets in their IPL 2026 match in Delhi on Tuesday.Chasing 156, Samson stayed not out on 87 off 52 balls, hitting seven fours and six sixes. He batted through the innings as CSK reached the target in 17.3 overs, improving their net run-rate.Delhi Capitals, who chose to bat first on a surface that was not easy early on, were restricted to 155 for seven.Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein bowled with control at the start, finishing with 1 for 19 and bowling 14 dot balls.Delhi were at 69 for five in 11 overs before Tristan Stubbs (38 off 31) and Sameer Rizvi (40 not out off 24) added 65 runs for the sixth wicket to take the total to 155.After the match, DC captain Axar Patel said he missed his bowling partner Kuldeep Yadav, who gave away 34 runs in three overs.“We have enough firepower in the team (in bating). That was the only positive in this game. In terms of our bowling unit, I feel that I missed my partner Kuldeep tonight,” Axar said.On whether 155 was a competitive total, Axar said, “Yes obviously. The wicket the way played in the first innings, we felt that 155 was a really good score on the board. But I felt that we played with 8 batters, so we were 10-15 runs short.”“I felt that the wicket good better in the 2nd Innings. I felt that the set batters made the difference to be honest. When a set batter bats in the middle, they make sure that the wicket looks flat. I still felt that the wicket had something for the bowlers.”On batting conditions for new players, the DC skipper said, “It wasn’t easy to bat for the new batters. You know that the ball was holding up on the surface. It was difficult for the new batters but once you are set, you can take the game away from the opposition and a clear example is in front of you – Sanju Samson.”
