DELHI, India (AP) — Opening batter Sanju Samson smashed an unbeaten 87 off 52 balls and anchored Chennai Super Kings to an eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
Samson, who has scored two centuries this season for his new franchise, led Chennai to 159-2 with 15 balls to spare as the five-time champions continued a remarkable turnaround in the tournament with three wins in the last four games.
Delhi was limited to 155-7 with spinners Akeal Hosein (1-19) and Noor Ahmad (2-22) troubling the home team batters on a tricky wicket.
“They are calling me ‘Cheetah’ but I like Sanju more,” said a smiling Samson after his match-winning knock. “I have been working a bit on my initial movement and it has been coming off. I had to be a bit too selfish to get a hundred so I thought let's win the game ... finishing not out, winning the game gives you more satisfaction.”
Samson was slow off the blocks and scored run-a-ball 22 before cutting loose in the latter half of the chase and smashing six sixes and seven boundaries. Kartik Sharma made an unbeaten 41 off 31 balls and together with Samson shared a match-winning partnership of 114 runs to leave Delhi at No. 7 with four wins in 10 games.
Chennai is at No. 6 with 10 points from five wins and five losses.
Lungi Ngidi had provided Delhi an early breakthrough when captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (6) couldn’t time his flick well and was caught at deep square leg in the fourth over and Urvil Patel hit two sixes in his brief knock of 17 off nine balls before he got stumped soon after the power play.
But Chennai’s persistence with Kartik Sharma in the middle-order paid off as he controlled the chase with Samson. Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s (0-34) struggle continued in the middle overs while Mitchell Starc (0-30) also couldn’t get through the defenses of the two set batters in his return spell.
“We were 10-15 runs short and the wicket got a little better to bat on later in the game,” Delhi skipper Axar Patel said. “It wasn’t easy for new batters to get set, but with set batters they were able to take the game away.”
Delhi struggled to get momentum when Mukesh Choudhary’s off-cutter deceived Pathum Nissanka (19) and the Sri Lankan opener spooned an easy catch to Dewald Brevis. Lokesh Rahul (12) then misread Hosein’s turning delivery and holed out at mid-off before Ahmad struck in his first over when Karun Nair (13) swept straight to short fine-leg inside the 30-yard circle.
Ahmad struck again in his second over when Nitish Rana (15) couldn’t control his sweep shot and was caught at deep backward square before Delhi slipped further to 69-5 when Patel's below-par season with the bat continued as he spooned an easy catch to cover.
Ahmad dropped Tristan Stubbs on 2 at covers and the South African revived Delhi with 65-run partnership with impact player Sameer Rizvi, who top-scored with 40 off 24 balls with four sixes. Two of Rizvi's big hits came in the final over of Anshul Kamboj, who finished with expensive figures of 0-49 and conceded 20 runs in the last over.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Join us for community fun at the San Mateo Senior Showcase at the San Mateo Senior Center lo… Read moreSan Mateo Senior Showcase
Our Lady of Angels school presents Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr! Read moreOur Lady of Angels School Presents Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Join us for an evening of piano artistry with Sofya Gulyak 🎹, presented by Gradus ad Parnas… Read moreSofya Gulyak piano recital
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
Connie Weiss said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.