Kishan, Cummins shine to take SRH into play-offs with five-wicket win over CSK

Chennai: Ishan Kishan struck a fluent 70 after Pat Cummins displayed his mastery over length and pace with a three-wicket burst as Sunrisers Hyderabad ensured an IPL 2026 playoff berth with a smooth five-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings here on Monday.

Chasing 181 was never going to be easy on a slowish Chepauk track. But Kishan, who hammered seven fours and three sixes in his 47-ball knock, and an equally enterprising Heinrich Klaasen (47 off 26 balls) added 75 runs for the third wicket, powering Hyderabad to 181 for five in 19 overs.

SRH now have 16 points with a game in hand -- good enough to carry them to the playoffs and the night’s result meant that Gujarat Titans (16 points) also marched into the knockouts.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (18 points) have already sealed their place in the playoffs, leaving other contenders to fight it out for the lone remaining place.

The Super Kings, who have 12 points from 13 matches, also are not yet completely out of the race to the knockouts.

Cutting back to the match, the Sunrisers did not have a particularly bright beginning to the chase, losing Travis Head early.

Abhishek Sharma too struggled for his timing, crawling to a 21-ball 26 as SRH could not find momentum in the Power Play, which they ended on 45 for one.

But once Klaasen, who was dropped on 18 by Spencer Johnson off Noor Ahmad, joined Kishan, the complexion of the game changed.

The duo neutralised CSK spinners -- Akeal Hossain and Ahmad -- with exemplary shot-making and foot work during their alliance as SRH closed in on the target.

Kishan completed his 50 in 37 balls but lost Klaasen to a brilliant stumping by Sanju Samson off Ahmad. However, the left-hander, who played some brilliant shots around the field, converted that fifty into something more substantial to drive his side’s charge.

However, he was not there to take SRH home as he fell to Anshul Kamboj but by then the 2016 champions needed just six runs to win.

Earlier, pacer Cummins displayed his absolute control over his craft, but a collective batting effort helped CSK reach a competitive 180/7.

The Hyderabad skipper (3/28) struck at crucial junctures of the match to ensure that CSK would not embark on a lopsided run after the home side elected to bat.

Samson gave a thunderous start to the Super Kings, smashing Nitish Kumar Reddy for 6, 4, 4, to eke out 17 runs in the first over.

Samson handed an equally harsh treatment to Praful Hinge in the next over, biffing him for a hat-trick of fours.

But Cummins introduced himself in the third over, and pitched one up at good pace, and Samson’s booming drive ended in the safe mitts of stumper Ishan Kishan.

Urvil Patel gave an early warning of hitting abilities with two successive sixes off Cummins, but Sakib Hussain’s slow ball beat his horizontal bat to rattle the stumps.

Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and the impressive Kartik Sharma (32, 19 balls) constructed a 42-run stand for the third wicket to keep their side on the track.

Kartik underlined his fast-growing maturity with some stunning shots like an inside out four off Hinge and a pulled six of left-arm wrist spinner Shivang Kumar.

But Cummins returned to account for the young right-hander as a pace off delivery outside off-stump robbed momentum from his upper cut, which ended with Nitish at deep.

Soon, Cummins’ pacy chest-high bouncer accounted for Gaikwad, snapping his painful 15 off 21 balls. Gaikwad’s lame pull could not clear Eshan Malinga in the deep.

Stranded without any force, CSK found some wind through Dewald Brevis (44, 27 balls) and Shivam Dube (26), who added 59 runs for the fifth wicket.

Brevis, who struggled for his range in this IPL so far, was impeccable on the night, creaming Cummins for six and Nitish for a maximum and a four. It was his highest score in this IPL season.

But Malinga rearranged his stumps with a 141 kmph thunderbolt to stall CSK again.