IPL 2026: CSK vs PBKS Highlights, Match 7 - Stats, Player of the Match & More
Shreyas Iyer (Source: X/@IPL)
Published - 03 Apr 2026, 09:52 PM• Read time - 6 mins
Match Overview
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) locked horns in the seventh match of IPL 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, April 3. PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first.
The new opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson could not score much tonight as well as the latter was caught behind off Xavier Bartlett in the second over itself. Out came Ayush Mhatre and the youngster took the initiative, going on a rampage. CSK ended the powerplay at 57/1 as Gaikwad played second fiddle. The partnership kept on growing and the duo looked comfortable in the middle with Mhatre completing his fifty off 29 balls.
CSK were dominating the proceedings right now and ended at a healthy 101/1 at the halfway mark. Not long after though, PBKS finally struck to end the 96-run 55-ball stand sending back the CSK skipper for 28(22). Mhatre (73 off 43) did not last long afterwards either as the 18-year-old became Vijaykumar Vyshak's first victim. Meanwhile, Shivam Dube (45* off 27) and Sarfaraz Khan (32 off 12) took care of the second half of the innings and helped CSK to a competitive 209/5 in their full quota of overs.
Priyansh Arya began with a bang. The southpaw was striking the ball sweetly and combined with Prabhsimran Singh to take out 34 runs from the first two overs. The next two overs yielded 21 runs as PBKS went past the 50-run mark in quick time. But, Arya went for one shot too many as Matt Henry clean bowled the left-hander for 39(11). Notably, it was the highest strike rate (354.54) for a PBKS batter (minimum 25 runs scored).
Cooper Connolly joined Prabhsimran and carried on from where he had left off in the previous match. The partnership started to get big, but an unfortunate run out of Prabhsimran (43 off 34) clipped it short. The Australian now combined with Shreyas and another 30+ partnership helped PBKS stay within range before Connolly departed for 36(22).
Shreyas took on the mantle and launched to take PBKS closer to victory. The skipper received good support from Nehal Wadhera (10 off 9) and reached his 28th IPL fifty before being dismissed immediately after for 50(29). Shashank Singh (14* off 6) and Marcus Stoinis (9* off 3) shrugged off the jitters and took their team home with ease. The successful 210-run chase was the fourth-highest against CSK and with it, PBKS completed the most number (9) of successful 200+ chases in the league.
Top run-scorer of the match
|
Player |
Team |
Runs |
Balls |
Fours |
Sixes |
Strike Rate |
| Ayush Mhatre |
CSK |
73 |
43 |
6 |
5 |
169.76 |
Top wicket-taker of the match
|
Player |
Team |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wickets |
Economy |
| Vijaykumar Vyshak |
PBKS |
4 |
0 |
38 |
4 |
9.50 |
Player of the Match
Priyansh Arya
The southpaw's attack right at the start gave a lot of breathing room to the batters to come. Even Prabhsimran Singh need not take risks as the opener took his time to settle. All in all, Arya's blitzkrieg set up the chase nicely as the batters to come next did not need to take undue risks.
Turning Point
The first-wicket partnership of 61 runs off 26 balls provided PBKS with a long headstart. While Arya attacked relentlessly, Prabhsimran played sensibly to turn the strike over to the aggressor. In the end, the impact of this stand was huge in the team's memorable victory against the Men in Yellow.
What the captains said
Winning Team Captain, Shreyas Iyer (PBKS)
"The way we started today, that was an exceptional start for us. I feel the way they (Arya and Prabhsimran) have been batting has been phenomenal and it stabilizes the rhythm for us. I am glad everyone is getting to bat. It gives immense confidence to the team. Whenever we are in a pressure situation, people are aware on how to handle it. We just decided in the dressing room, we will play a brand of cricket to impress each other - that gives us a certain sort of clarity, and basically challenging each other. Getting 39 off 11 balls, that is the start we require."
Losing Team Captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK)
"I feel it was a really good score. Wicket was better for pacers but it was gripping - slower balls were gripping too. With big boundaries, felt it was a really good score. (On the Impact Player) We felt we had three seamers and having two wrist-spinners bowling in tandem will help. Off-day for both of them and that is what cost us. (On the bowling in general) Mixture of both - sometimes, we executed well, sometimes, we did not execute well. The pressure did not build. There was a point when it (required run-rate) went to 11, and a couple of good overs would have taken it to 12-13. We just did not get momentum in the middle (with the ball)."
