CSK complete double over Delhi Capitals as Sanju Samson’s 87 not out lights up the Arun Jaitley Stadium alongside Kartik Sharma

Chennai Super Kings came to the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday night and made it look straightforward in the end, chasing down Delhi Capitals’ 155 for 7 with eight wickets in hand and fifteen balls to spare.

It was a comfortable win on paper and the story behind it runs deeper than the scorecard, a bowling unit that had looked alarmingly leaky through the first stretch of the season has quietly become one of the best in the competition, and a batting lineup finding its rhythm at exactly the right point in the tournament.

How DC built their total and why it was not enough

Delhi chose to bat first on a slow surface at the Kotla and the pitch made life difficult from the opening over.

The top order collapsed in a way that has become a recurring theme for Axar Patel’s side, five wickets down for 69 by the end of the eleventh over, with Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul, Nitish Rana, Karun Nair and Axar himself all failing to build any kind of meaningful contribution.

Akeal Hosein was outstanding in the powerplay and through the middle, finishing with 1 for 19 from four overs, control that set the tone for the entire CSK bowling effort. Noor Ahmad took 2 for 22 from three. Gurjapneet Singh chipped in with an important wicket.

The total was kept competitive only by Tristan Stubbs, 38 off 31 balls, the kind of stubborn innings that has defined his season, and a late Sameer Rizvi cameo of 40 not out from 24 balls. Ashutosh Sharma’s 14 off 5 balls in the final over added some cosmetic runs. The 155 was never going to be enough on a surface that was always going to ease up in the second innings.

Sanju Samson and Kartik Sharma make the chase look effortless

The CSK chase was built around Sanju Samson from the moment he survived a first-over DRS review and settled into his innings. Sanju Samson was 22 off 22 at the end of the ninth over, patient by his standards, reading the pitch carefully, and then he changed gears. Fifty came off 32 balls.

Against spin Sanju Samson was particularly severe, 37 runs at a strike rate of 195 against Axar and Kuldeep, including 25 off 9 balls against Kuldeep in the twelfth over featuring three sixes and a four that turned the Kotla into a CSK crowd.

The home supporters gave way to yellow well before the match was done. Sanju Samson finished unbeaten on 87 off 52, seven fours and six sixes, and the third-wicket partnership with Kartik Sharma, 100 runs in 60 balls, made the result a formality long before the final over arrived.

Kartik’s 41 not out off 31 showed the composure of a player finding his feet in the IPL, and the unbroken stand that brought CSK home reflected a batting combination that is starting to look like something the franchise can rely on.

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What the result means for CSK and the bowling turnaround that made it possible

This is CSK’s second consecutive win over Delhi following their earlier victory in Chennai, completing the double over a side that started the season looking like a genuine playoff contender.

More significantly, the bowling performance underlines a transformation that deserves proper acknowledgement. In their first three matches of the season CSK’s bowlers took 10 wickets for 588 runs at an economy of 11.37, a rate that suggested a unit in genuine trouble. Over the last seven games that same attack has taken 51 wickets at an economy of 8.15, the best figure of any side in the competition across that period.

Hosein, Noor Ahmad and Gurjapneet Singh have been central to that turnaround for CSK and on Tuesday night at the Kotla they delivered again on a surface that rewarded discipline and patience. CSK move to sixth in the table. The playoffs are in sight.