Ahmedabad : Gujarat Titans (GT) completed an impeccable run chase, powered by a brilliant knock from Sai Sudharsan, and with that, GT registered a commanding 8-wicket victory (with 20 balls remaining) over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 37th match of the IPL 2026 season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Sunday.
The match began with GT won the toss and elected to bowl first. Ruturaj and Sanju came up to open, but CSK suffered an early setback when Kagiso Rabada took Sanju’s wicket for 11 off 15 balls. With this innings, Sanju Samson reached the 5000-run mark in his IPL career and became the fastest Indian batter to achieve the feat, getting there in just 3,555 balls and overtaking Suresh Raina.
After the first wicket fell, the middle order also collapsed quickly. Rabada’s fiery bowling spell dismantled CSK’s middle order as he picked up 3 wickets for 25 runs in 4 overs, dismissing Urvil Patel (4 off 3) and Kartik Sharma (15 off 9), and he was deservedly named Player of the Match. Only captain Ruturaj Gaikwad carried the innings single-handedly, but he was unable to find enough support at the other end to build strong partnerships. Ruturaj played an excellent unbeaten knock of 74 off 60 balls. Later, Jamie Overton contributed a quick 18 off 6 balls, helping CSK post a competitive total of 158 for 7.
Chasing 159, the Titans started strongly with captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, scoring 55/0 after the powerplay, which created pressure on the bowling attack. Noor Ahmad came into the attack and took the wicket of captain Gill after he scored 33 off 23 balls, thanks to an outstanding stumping by Sanju Samson. With this, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan continued to redefine consistency at the top, adding another milestone to their growing IPL legacy. Their 50-plus stand against CSK marked their 19th such partnership in just 40 innings—the most by an Indian pair in the tournament’s history. In doing so, they surpassed the previous record of 18 held by Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, who took 54 innings to reach that mark.
After Gill’s dismissal, Jos Buttler came in to bat, and the duo completely took the game away from CSK. Sudharsan played a magnificent knock of 87 off 46 balls, showcasing exceptional batting intelligence, especially against the spinners. The pair stitched together a dominant 97-run partnership. Sudharsan was eventually dismissed in the 16.2over (caught by Dewald Brevis off Akel Hosein). Buttler remained unbeaten on 39 off 30 balls and calmly guided the team to victory, successfully completing the chase at 162 for 2 in 16.4 overs, with 20 balls to spare.
With this win, GT regained confidence and moved to 5th position on the points table with 8 points, while CSK slipped to 6th position with 6 points. CSK will face Mumbai Indians in their next match on May 2, and GT will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 30.
