Hyderabad enters knockouts following brilliant victory over southern rivals
Sunrisers Hyderabad advanced to the IPL 2026 knockout stage following a commanding five-wicket triumph over Chennai Super Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.Pursuing a competitive target of 181, the visiting team crossed the line with six deliveries remaining.This crucial result not only propelled Hyderabad further into the tournament alongside Gujarat Titans but also pushed the host franchise to the brink of tournament elimination.Winning at Chepauk remains one of the toughest challenges in domestic cricket due to the notoriously slow, turning nature of the surface, making this chasing effort particularly remarkable.
Kishan Anchors Chase
Left-handed opener Ishan Kishan orchestrated the successful run chase with a brilliant 70 runs off 47 deliveries, tracking the required run rate with absolute composure.Despite losing opening partner Travis Head early to Mukesh Choudhary, Hyderabad stabilised the innings through calculated strokeplay.Proteas batter Heinrich Klaasen provided explosive support from the other end, contributing a quickfire 47 off 26 balls to disrupt the plans of the Chennai spinners.By the time Klaasen fell to sharp glovework from Sanju Samson, the visiting side required only 55 runs from the final six overs.
Bowlers Set Victory
Earlier, Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins led from the front, taking three wickets for 28 runs to restrict Chennai to 180 for 7.Young domestic speedster Sakib Hussain offered excellent assistance with two vital scalps, ensuring the hosts could not capitalise fully on a quick start by Sanju Samson.Dewald Brevis top-scored for the yellow franchise with 44 runs, but the constant loss of wickets prevented late-innings acceleration.Smaran Ravichandran eventually hit the winning boundary to wrap up a memorable evening for the orange franchise.
Ishan Kishan anchored the batting
