Ruturaj Gaikwad (AP Photo)
New Delhi: Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted that his side let the game slip away in the middle as they lost by 10 runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026. CSK were in good shape in the chase but could not maintain the momentum when it mattered most.Gaikwad explained that based on SRH’s strong start, he had expected a total of 220-230, so restricting them to under 200 looked like a win. However, the chase was derailed after the 10-run mark when CSK scored just four runs in two overs, allowing the pressure to build.
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“Given how they played their power play, I was looking at a score of about 220-230. To pull it out by 30 runs, I would have taken it any day below 200. It would have only taken about 80 runs in 10 overs (with the bat).
From there, it was just a matter of building two partnerships. We scored just 4 runs in the next two overs after the 10 mark. Chasing 12-13 at the death will be tough, he said.Batting first, SRH put on 194/9 thanks to quick half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaassen. CSK’s players, including Anshul Kamboj, did well to keep the score under control.In reply, CSK got good starts from Aayush Mhatre, Matthew Short and Sarfaraz Khan, but continued to lose wickets.
SRH bowlers like Eshan Malinga and Nitish Kumar Reddy dominated the match in the later stages.Despite the loss, Gaikwad praised his players and highlighted Kamboj’s confidence: “The bowling unit has done really well in three consecutive matches. Even the power play today, I thought Abhishek bowled great. I think everyone did a good job (with the ball).”“He (Anshul Kamboj) works hard on his bowling, especially death bowling. You rarely find bowlers who are clear and tell the captain I know what I have to do, and this is what I will do.”