Sanju Samson's 54-ball 101 and Akeal's 4 for 17 hand MI their biggest IPL defeat as CSK win by 103
Chennai Super Kings turned up at the Wankhede Stadium and played the kind of game CSK teams used to play here in their pomp. Put in by Hardik Pandya, they made 207 for 6, and then bowled Mumbai Indians out for 104 to win by 103 runs. It is the biggest defeat in runs Mumbai have ever suffered in the IPL.
The batting half of the night belonged entirely to Sanju Samson. The CSK opener, who had looked well short of form with scores of 6, 7 and 9 in his previous three outings, went past fifty in 32 balls and finished on 101 not out off 54. Ten fours, six sixes, and the last act of the innings was hammering 16 runs off the final over to bring up the hundred.
Two tons in four games, and a leap up the all-time list
This was Samson’s second hundred of IPL 2026 and his fifth overall in the tournament. That takes him level with KL Rahul in joint fourth on the all-time list of IPL centurions, behind Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler and Chris Gayle. It was also the first individual hundred by a CSK batter against Mumbai Indians in the history of this fixture, which is a striking fact in a rivalry that has been running for eighteen seasons.
Across T20 cricket as a whole, the knock also pulled Samson level with Rohit Sharma on eight hundreds for an Indian batter, putting the pair joint third behind Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma, who are tied on nine. Given where Samson was mentally just over a week ago, there was something almost quiet about the way he played. No theatre, no running bat-wave until the single that brought up the ton. He just got back to doing what he does when everything is clicking.
The chase that never started
Mumbai never laid a glove on 208. Akeal Hosein did the early damage, removing Danish Malewar and then Naman Dhir inside the powerplay, and Mumbai were 29 for 3 at the end of the first six overs. That is the lowest they have been at the powerplay mark all season.
Hosein finished with 4 for 17 from his four overs, with one of them a maiden. Noor Ahmad chipped in with 2 for 24. Between them the CSK spinners took six wickets in the chase. For a ground that is supposed to be batter country and seamer territory, the numbers were quite something.
Suryakumar Yadav’s 35 off 30 was the score of substance in the Mumbai reply. Hardik Pandya was out for 1. Rohit Sharma, still recovering from the hamstring injury he picked up earlier in the month, was again missing from the XI.
Where both teams stand now
Chennai move to six points from seven games and out of the bottom for the first time in a while. Mumbai stay on four from seven and their net run rate has taken the kind of hit that matters in a year where three or four teams are likely to be fighting over the last playoff spot. CSK players wore black armbands tonight, marking the passing of Mukesh Choudhary’s mother.
It is a little early to call the season for either side, but Mumbai have now lost five out of seven and the next fixture does not look any kinder. Chennai, having found their opener, might be the side nobody fancied a week ago that ends up being the one to watch.
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