Tata is in the second round of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 tournament. The second match of round two was played between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). As PBKS defeated CSK by 5 wickets. PBKS’s Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first, as they came into the game with an unchanged team.
Home team CSK made one change after losing their first match to Rajasthan Royals (RR); Prashant Veer replaced Matthew Short. Once again Sanju Samson had a difficult start and he returned to the pavilion after scoring only 7 runs. His start in the first two matches was not good.
Ayush Mhatre starred for CSK
However, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ayush Mhatre picked up the pace as the latter was the aggressive duo and CSK scored 57/1 in the powerplay. Ayush is hitting the ball hard. Ayush Mhatre scored a brilliant half-century off 29 balls and was the difference maker. Ruturaj Gaikwad was out after scoring 28 runs in 22 balls.
A few overs later, Ayush Mhatre was not lucky for the third time, after dropping two catches, Yuzvendra Chahal took the catch and Ayush Mhatre was out on the score of 73 runs in 43 balls. This was an excellent innings of the young batsman. After this the pace of runs slowed down.
However, Sarfaraz Khan’s short knock of 32 off 11 balls helped CSK get back on track, and Shivam Dubey took charge towards the end of the innings and scored at a good pace. Dubey finished the innings in style by scoring 45 runs in 27 balls as CSK scored 209/5 in 20 overs.
Priyansh Arya left for a flyer
Chasing 210, PBKS went all out thanks to Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya. Both the batsmen scored fifty runs in three overs and dominated the CSK bowlers. Priyansh destroyed the bowling attack of the Yellow Army by getting out after scoring 39 runs on 11 balls.
Prabhsimran Singh was involved in a big mess with Cooper Connolly and he paid the price as he walked back to the pavilion after scoring 43 runs in 34 balls. Connolly and Shreyas Iyer took charge of the innings and kept the run rate good. The former player returned to the pavilion after playing a useful innings of 36 runs in 22 balls.
Iyer scored a half-century in the run chase, as the Punjab captain displayed his calm nature to score runs under pressure; However, he was out after scoring 50 runs on 29 balls. As PBKS have won two out of two games in IPL 2026. Ruturaj Gaikwad This is the first time that CSK has lost 6 consecutive games at home. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s performance as a captain has not been good so far this season.
I think it was a really good score- Ruturaj Gaikwad
After the defeat, Ruturaj Gaikwad said, “I think it was a really good score. The wicket was better for the fast bowlers, but it was entertaining – the slower balls were holding up as well. With big boundaries, felt it was a really good score. (On Impact Player) We felt we had three seamers and bowling in tandem with the two wrist spinners would help.”
“They both had an off day and that’s why we had to pay the price for it. (On bowling in general) a mixture of both – sometimes, we performed well, sometimes, we didn’t perform well. The pressure didn’t build. There came a time when it (the required run-rate) got to 11, and a few good overs would have taken it to 12-13. We just couldn’t find the pace (with the ball) in the middle.”
Ruturaj Gaikwad further added, “It’s tough (to take). There are a lot of positives. Ayush batted brilliantly. Shivam batted really well. Batting-wise, we had good confidence. Bowling-wise, there’s a lot of improvement to be made. (On his innings) Today, I felt a little bit of staying put. The wicket was holding, so thought of hanging in there and then cashing in but unfortunately, got out at the wrong time.”
Also Read: IPL Points Table 2026: Updated Standings, Orange Cap, Purple Cap after CSK vs PBKS Match 7