Sanju Samson departs for 7 as struggle continues in IPL 2026

Sanju Samson's struggle continues as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener was dismissed for only 7 runs against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their first IPL 2026 home match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In the very next ball after smashing a boundary, Samson lost his wicket. Xavier Bartlett, the star bowler, helped PBKS by getting rid of the CSK batter.

Only a couple of deliveries before, from the commentary box, Ian Bishop mentioned that the bowler could get better results against Sanju Samson if he reduced the room and kept the pressure on the batter in a consistent manner. Xavier Bartlett did exactly what Bishop suggested.

Sanju Samson was caught by the PBKS keeper

In the previous delivery, the right-handed batter went back away from the stumps towards the leg side and smashed the PBKS bowler. In the next delivery, Bartlett predicted Samson's move early and pitched the ball closer to his body.

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The ball nipped away off the seam and Samson tried to push the ball down the wicket but got an edge which carried behind the stumps, where the keeper Prabhsimran Singh did not make any mistake to glove the ball.

Watch the dismissal of Sanju Samson here:

Sanju Samson's struggle continues pic.twitter.com/If0DblNtCK

— Nickk Knight (@KnightNick34590) April 3, 2026

CSK recovered from the early blow soon

It was a massive blow for the home side, as they were hoping for a solid partnership at the beginning of the innings. Samson's early departure again put pressure on the team, just like their previous fixtures when CSK faced a batting collapse after the fall of Sanju Samson.

This time, the team was prepared for the tough challenge, mentally. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad holds one side of the wicket, playing an anchor role, while Ayush Mhatre keeps pressing for runs with his natural batting instinct. With the pair of Ruturaj and Ayush, Chennai Super Kings quickly overcame the early setback in the form of Sanju Samson's dismal batting.

Fans at the MA Chidambaram stadium got to take a breath of relief when the team edged past the 100-run mark without losing any further batters.

Ayush Mhatre played a breathtaking knock when the team needed it the most vs PBKS

The team in yellow lost their second wicket in 110 runs, Ruturaj Gaikwad had to walk off, scoring 28 runs in 22 deliveries. After a while, Ayush Mhatre also found his defence broken as CSK lost their third for 123 inside the 13th over of the first innings.

Mhatre, the U-19 captain of Team India who scripted history by winning the U-19 World Cup ahead of the IPL 2026, rescued the Chennai Super Kings tonight by scoring a blistering 73 runs from 43 balls. The emerging batter's swashbuckling innings was decorated with six 4s and five 6s.

With the combination of these two batters, the former champions got oxygen to keep their fight against the IPL 2025 runners-up.

Read More: Ian Bishop says sorry to Ruturaj Gaikwad during the toss of CSK vs PBKS IPL 2026 clash