May 5, 2026, 4:16 PM
Teams want to return to the playoff race
So far in IPL 2026, five teams are in the lead, with five more trying to catch up. However, given the results of the previous weekend, a victory on Tuesday would put either the sixth-place Chennai Super Kings (CSK) or the seventh-place Delhi Capitals (DC) within two points of second place.May 5, 2026, 4:45 PM
Is Ngidi suitable? Is Dhoni going to play?
Fans of DC have good news. Lungi Ngidi is "100% fit" and has recovered from the head concussion and neck injuries he sustained while fielding on April 25, according to DC. He could immediately take Kyle Jamieson's place. Pathum Nissanka should continue as the opener while Sahil Parakh is still recovering from his facial injury. It is anticipated that David Miller will be on the bench.Delhi Capitals: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Ashutosh Sharma, 6 Sameer Rizvi, 7 Axar Patel (capt), 8 Vipraj Nigam/Auqib Nabi, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kuldeep Yadav, 12 T Natarajan
The CSK camp has reported that MS Dhoni has not yet visited Delhi. He is still dealing with a stubborn calf injury and there are no timelines for his return. For one batting spot, CSK must choose between Sarfaraz Khan and Urvil Patel. Their MI match rookie, Ramakrishna Ghosh, is out of the competition due to a foot fracture. CSK has not yet announced a successor.
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Sarfaraz Khan/Urvil Patel, 4 Kartik Sharma, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Prashant Veer, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Anshul Kamboj, 11 Akash Madhwal/Gurjapneet Singh, 12 Mukesh Choudhary
May 5, 2026, 5:30 PM
DC's bowling powerplay
36 In the powerplay, DC's bowlers have performed poorly. They are ranked second in terms of wickets taken (nine) and last in terms of balls per wicket (36).May 5, 2026, 5:54 PM
Starc, "Captain of fast bowlers."
"Obviously, we play every match to win, but now the relaxed mode is over," Munaf said, referring to Starc's ability to get among the wickets without any settling-in period. DC hopes to get their combo right. Bowling coach Munaf Patel said, "You have to win every game if you want to qualify," referring to DC's seventh-place standing on the points table with four victories in nine games."With only four abroad berths, it is always challenging to fit the ideal combination into the XI. We wanted to give Pathum [Nissanka, from the previous game] a chance and have another bowling option because Sahil was hurt. We chose that combo for that reason.
May 5, 2026, 6:20 PM
In focus
Nitish Rana has changed as a batter. Rana has scored 182 runs at a strike rate of 182 in his previous four games, including two fifties, after being initially chosen, dropped, and then added to the team once more. His apparent ease at the crease has been attributed in part to his improved performance against good-length and back-of-good-length deliveries, which has also contributed to DC's recent success with the bat.Since 2024, Akeal Hosein has taken 21 wickets at an economy of 6.2 with his destructive arm ball against right-hand batters. However, he has lost that ability in the 2026 Indian Premier League, going at 10.50 per over and taking no wickets with the arm ball. However, he is still a threat against DC's two right-hand openers because of his success with the stock delivery (economy 6.8 and four wickets) against right-hand hitters.
May 5, 2026, 7:01 PM
Toss: DC bat
Axar Patel decided to bat after the Delhi Capitals won the toss. His intuition that the fastball would slow down and stop quick scoring in the second inning led him to make this choice. Ruturaj Gaikwad, the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, seemed ready for that scenario, pointing out that the surface appeared dry, suggesting the ball would stop on it and not fall onto the bat readily. To avoid being upset, they lost the toss, CSK wanted to bowl. They might think that better batting conditions could have resulted from Delhi's overnight and afternoon rains.With Lungi Ngidi replacing Kyle Jamieson in their starting lineup, DC is back to full strength. Sameer Rizvi has been benched by the Impact Players, while Karun Nair has also been called in.
Akeal Hosein, a left-arm spinner, and Gurjapneet Singh, a left-arm quick, were two further adjustments made by CSK. They lost all-rounder Ramakrishna Ghosh to injury after winning the previous game, leading to a major reorganisation.
Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair, Tristan Stubbs, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan
DC's Impact Player bench: Vipraj, Rizvi, Porel, Auqib, Miller
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Chowdhary, Gurjapneet Singh
CSK's Impact Player bench: Dube, Veer, Short, Madhwal, Sarfaraz
May 5, 2026, 7:40 PM
Hold off and observe
There is undoubtedly a turn on offer, according to early indicators. In the first over, Akeal Hosein managed to pitch one on leg stump and get it to straighten, making a compelling lbw claim. It was too high. Samson contributed to CSK's decision to decline the review. Mukesh Choudhary finds swing in the second over, but to slow the batters down, he must pull his length down, closer to good than full. DC is currently waiting for poor balls to be put away. Soon enough, that ought to change.102 Pathum Nissanka's IPL 2026 striking rate versus spin. Because of this, CSK is giving Akeal a second over in the powerplay.
May 5, 2026, 7:48 PM
Nissanka has left
The score pattern indicates that the pitch is sluggish. Dots or boundaries.The boundaries are off bad balls, primarily down leg or overpitched. Additionally, the batters' efforts to put the good balls away are not the reason for all the dots. The pitch's slowness won't make them go away. Rahul and Nissanka are always having to modify their bat motion. Or they continue to locate the fielder.
Choudhary hits a slower ball into the pitch at 122 kph, which results in Nissanka's wicket. He has no timing when he attempts to smash it off the front foot. Mid-on capture
May 5, 2026, 7:57 PM
Rahul has left
Nitish Rana came out to bat at No. 3 instead of Karun Nair, and I think it was a great decision. The goal is to stop Akeal from bowling three consecutive times in the powerplay. However, CSK has faith in their spinner. They only make a change of ends as a compromise. Additionally, Akeal eliminates KL Rahul, giving them a significant advantage.It is impossible to match a left-arm spinner with a left-handed batter. However, CSK has succeeded by going against the grain. Rana, who was most likely put there to either strike Akeal or knock him out of the attack, ultimately only has to deal with one ball—a dot ball.
May 5, 2026, 8:03 PM
Difficult rebuild
174 At the conclusion of the powerplay, DC was at 37 for 2.This IPL, DC's middle-order batting has been a minor problem, with everyone from No. 4 and down striking at 133.52. The only ones below them are GT and LSG.
May 5, 2026, 8:08 PM
Noor attacks
In case it affects your vote, Noor Ahmad removed Karun Nair in his opening over. Nair had used some creative strokes behind the wicket to go from 4 off 8 to 12 off 10.May 5, 2026, 8:28 PM
Axar's problems
This season, Axar Patel has scored 33 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 97, a considerable decrease from his prior IPL totals of 263 in 11 innings in 2025, 235 in 12 innings in 2024, and 283 in 13 innings in 2023.DC has been forced to bring in an Impact hitter because they are 69 - 5. They will bowl lightly in the second innings now that Sameer Rizvi is out.
Supporting the CSK spinners, Gurjapneet uses his height to kick a ball at the DC skipper, catching him at cover.
May 5, 2026, 8:31 PM
Visit Akeal
He made sure never to give up the stumps since the pitch was assisting him. With just two fielders on the boundary, the first three of those overs were also in the powerplay.May 5, 2026, 8:47 PM
Stubbs the key
It's Tristan Stubbs. He's moving smoothly, and to the extent that it helps his strokeplay, his motions have the pitch's slowness.Noor Ahmed is hammered through cover point twice after dropping the ball a little short. On the boundary, Urvil Patel saves a four, but the second time he's called in, he has no chance.
In IPL 2026, Tristan Stubbs had zero dismissals against spin. After 40 balls, he has 39 runs.
May 5, 2026, 9:05 PM
Rizvi makes a big impact
Delhi's first five wickets: 69 off 66Delhi's Rizvi and Stubbs: 65 off 42
One of the top death bowlers of the season, Kamboj, was just hit by Rizvi for two sweeping sixes in the eighteenth over.
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The unrestricted flow of runs might not be a positive indication for DC. It can indicate that the pitch has calmed down. Clearly, the back 10 has only shown two overs of spin. It was all pace the rest of the time, and it did sort of come onto the bat better. Additionally, there was a period of rain in the middle of the game that the umpires determined wasn't severe enough to halt play, which might have given the pitch more speed.
However, in the 19th over, Stubbs fell to Overton, who was bowling his first over of the day.
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May 5, 2026, 9:12 PM
Kamboj fails to make his imprint
Shiva Jayaraman Kamboj, our statistics specialist, has been all over the wicket in this IPL63 runs, 8.57 Eco, and 8 wickets before this game
This match: five sixes and 34 runs in 12 balls
Kamboj (4-0-49-0) hasn't been playing well. His ability to bowl around the wicket and use yorkers that are out of the batter's reach has been his strongest suit. After noticing it, DC devised a strategy in which their right-hand hitters move across their stumps to get close to the ball before opening up the slice between third man and point or the sweep between fine leg and square leg.
May 5, 2026, 9:13 PM
DC 155 for seven
On a challenging batting pitch, this is a respectable total. CSK will benefit by being aware of their target and adjusting their innings appropriately. For instance, Ruturaj Gaikwad could bat at his own speed and finish the innings if he so chooses, while Urvil Patel and Sanju Samson would do the heavy lifting on the other end. In their seven overs, Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad took 3 for 41.Could Jamie Overton be nursing a niggle, as he just bowled one and took a short break from the field? Axar, Kuldeep, and Ngidi will be crucial in taking pace off the ball and bowling a hard length. In an interview conducted in between innings, Gurjapneet stated that CSK aimed to maintain the score between 140 and 145. Rizvi (40 off 24) and Stubbs (38 off 31) deserve praise for their batting.
May 5, 2026, 9:45 PM
Gaikwad has left
CSK is content to move slowly. In three overs, they are 22 for 0. The zero wickets are crucial in this situation. DC is using all of their resources to attack them. Ngidi, Axar, and Starc are all inside the powerplay. They are aware that this chase will be extremely difficult without early wickets. And in the end, they achieve their goals.0 1 lb 0 1 W 0
In the fourth over, Gaikwad was dismissed for 6 off 13 by Ngidi, who is recovering from a serious head injury.
In T20 cricket, Ngidi has removed Gaikwad three times in 17 balls. Gaikwad has amassed ten runs.
May 5, 2026, 9:59 PM
Six, six, gone, Urvil
In 5.4 overs, two boundaries were hit off the bat.Before the powerplay expires, Urvil Patel's two sixes against Lungi Ngidi treble CSK's boundary total.
Urvil's problem, though, is that despite playing these high-impact shots, he never seems to have a backup plan. How to react when there is no ball to hit. Once more, he tries to drive Axar on the up to a ball that is not drivable on a pitch that is getting bigger, but he misses the ball, overbalances, and gets stuck. He is upset that he has left. However, there is a solution. All he has to do is adjust his level of hostility.
May 5, 2026, 10:04 PM
Relaxing
The pitch has softened. Sanju Samson hit a lofted shot off Axar Patel in the second over that went all the way to six. New to the crease, Kartik Sharma pull-flicks Axar for four in the seventh over by playing the ball between midwicket and long-on without truly going horizontal. The just-turned 20-year-old Kartik had a great shot, the kind that CSK has been praising.May 5, 2026, 10:27 PM
Fifty Samson
In the ninth over, Sanju Samson was 22 off 22.In the twelfth over, he reached fifty. 32 balls off.
Samson scored 37 runs at a strike rate of 195 against spin today. Against Axar, that is 12 off 10 with one six. Additionally, Kuldeep scored 25 off 9 with three sixes and one four.
Delhi's home ground is Feroz Shah Kotla, yet the supporters are yelling C-S-K! C-S-K! And that's the reason. Samson versus Kuldeep in the twelfth over
May 5, 2026, 10:44 PM
One more SamTon?
Just 156 remain to chase. CSK has already reached 124. Samson is 77 and still alive. But when he's acting this way, you won't wager against him.1 1 6 6 4 2
May 5, 2026, 10:59 PM
CSK triumphs
Delhi Capitals 155 for 7 (Rizvi 40, Noor 2-33, Akeal 1-19) were defeated by Chennai Super Kings 159 for 2 (Samson 87*, Kartik 41*) by eight wickets.The Chennai Super Kings' bowling assault was viewed with suspicion going into the 2026 Indian Premier League. Their bowlers took 10 for 588 at an economy rate of 11.37 in three straight losses. There has been an incredible turnaround since then.
With an economy rate of 8.15, which is unmatched, CSK's bowlers have taken 51 wickets in the last seven games—only the Gujarat Titans have more, and that too by the narrowest of margins. Akeal Hosein (4-0-19-1) and Noor Ahmad (3-0-22-2) gained the lead when a slow pitch was used for the first time. As the surface improved in the second innings, Delhi Capitals' meagre 155 for 7 proved to be insufficient. In the end, Sanju Samson scored 87 off 52 balls.
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