Hyderabad : Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) secured a victory from a nerve-tight finish over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 10 runs in the high-pressure Southern derby match, successfully defending 194 on the back of a wonderful collective bowling effort in the 27th match of IPL 2026 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad. CSK won the toss and elected to bowl first. Abhishek and Travis Head opened the innings with great intent; Abhishek brilliantly smashed 50 runs in 15 balls, with the score racing to 75/0 in just 5.4 overs, while Head played from the non-striker’s end, scoring 23 off 20 balls. The partnership produced 75 runs in 34 balls.
However, the momentum briefly shifted towards CSK when Mukesh Choudhary dismissed Travis Head and Ishaan for ducks in consecutive deliveries. SRH ended the powerplay at 75/2. Soon after, in the next few overs, Jamie Overton removed Abhishek with a well-disguised off-cutter after his explosive 59 off 22 balls, leaving SRH at 93/3 in the 8th over. Heinrich Klaasen then came in and rebuilt the innings brilliantly, anchoring the game with a vital partnership alongside Aniket Verma, Shashank Singh, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Klaasen scored 59 off 39 balls, setting up a competitive finish for SRH.
CSK’s Jamie Overton impressed with the ball in the middle overs, taking 3 wickets for 37 runs in 4 overs. Alongside him, Anshul Kamboj also bowled brilliantly at the death, taking 3 wickets for 31 runs in 4 overs. Due to this strong bowling effort from CSK, SRH managed only 31/4 in the last four overs and eventually finished at 194/9 after 20 overs.
CSK’s chase began explosively with Sanju Samson hitting a six on the very first ball, but he could not stay long at the crease and was dismissed in the second over by Nitish Kumar Reddy after scoring 7 off 3 balls. Ayush Mhatre then joined Ruturaj Gaikwad and built a strong partnership, taking CSK to 60/1 in four overs. However, Mhatre’s knock was cut short in unfortunate circumstances after he pulled his hamstring and struggled to run between the wickets, eventually getting dismissed by Nitish Kumar Reddy after scoring a fluent 30 off 13 balls.
After that, Ruturaj Gaikwad was also dismissed by Eshan Malinga after scoring 19 off 13 balls. Matt Short and Sarfaraz Khan then stitched a 46-run partnership, leaving CSK needing 84 runs off 60 balls with seven wickets in hand. But SRH made a strong comeback, breaking the partnership by removing Sarfaraz Khan through Eshan Malinga. Wickets kept falling in quick succession—Dewald Brevis was dismissed for a duck, and Shivam Dube tried to reduce the pressure on the chase, but the continuously climbing run rate created trouble for CSK. In the final overs, CSK needed 46 runs in the last four overs, but SRH’s outstanding bowling turned the match decisively in their favor. In the final over, CSK needed 20 runs, but Praful Hinge successfully bowled a crucial and composed over, claiming one wicket and sealing a well-fought 10-run victory for SRH. Eshan Malinga also delivered a brilliant spell, taking 3 wickets for 29 runs in 4 overs, and was deservedly awarded Player of the Match for his match-defining breakthroughs.
With this win, SRH climbed to 4th position on the table with 6 points, while CSK dropped to 7th position with 4 points. SRH will play against DC in their next match on 21 April, and CSK will face MI on 23 April.
