SRH chase 181 at Chepauk to seal an IPL 2026 playoff spot
Sunrisers Hyderabad cleared the last hurdle to a 2026 playoff spot on Monday night at Chepauk, chasing 181 with five wickets in hand and six balls to spare and dragging Gujarat Titans through the door with them. Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, were out of their last home match of the season but still in the hunt with one game remaining.
Ishan Kishan held the chase together with 70 off 47, then Heinrich Klaasen took a slow surface and turned it into a fast one for 26 balls. Pat Cummins, the captain, had already done the heavier lifting earlier in the night with three for 28 across his four overs. By the time Smaran Ravichandran swung the winning runs, SRH had become the third side after Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans to confirm their playoff place.
Brevis again, but not enough at Chepauk
Chennai chose to bat and posted 180 for 7, a total that briefly felt above par on a pitch where the ball was gripping. Sanju Samson got them moving with 27 off 13 at the top, Kartik Sharma added 32 off 19, and Dewald Brevis pulled the back end together with 44 off 27 that included four sixes. None of them carried on, and Cummins kept finding the wickets that mattered, removing Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sharma on the way to figures of three for 28.
Shivam Dube's 26 off 23 kept the scoreboard ticking but never threatened to break the over, and Sakib Hussain ended with two wickets of his own, getting Urvil Patel in the powerplay and cleaning up Dube for 26. A finish that should have started with 200 down ended up at a target that always looked chaseable on a dew-affected surface.
Kishan and Klaasen pull the chase out of reach
SRH lost Travis Head early for six, and Abhishek Sharma was caught out off Hosein for 26 just when the powerplay looked like it could run away. Kishan brought up his fifty off 37 balls and finally broke clear, accelerating to a strike rate close to 150 by the time he was caught at the boundary off Anshul Kamboj for 70.
Klaasen joined the chase needing the rate to climb, and chose to take Noor Ahmad on. His 47 off 26 included six fours and two sixes at a strike rate above 180, and even when Mukesh Choudhary chipped in with Travis Head caught off his own bowling and Nitish Reddy holed out to Patel, the equation never properly stretched.
SRH and GT through, CSK still in the hunt
The result locks the top half of the IPL 2026 table around Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Gujarat had been on the verge of qualification all week, and their place became mathematically secure the moment CSK fell tonight. The fourth playoff spot is now a fight between Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings, with the last round of fixtures left to settle it.
For Chennai, this was the season-defining loss at the season-defining venue. A campaign that began with three straight defeats, reset around a mid-season run that briefly had them back in the playoff picture, has one last chance: a trip to face Gujarat in Ahmedabad on 21 May, with MS Dhoni still on the sidelines and a slim playoff path still open.
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