IPL 2026: Hyderabad seals IPL playoffs spot with Gujarat after beating Chennai

CHENNAI, India: Sunrisers Hyderabad qualified for the Indian Premier League playoffs after Ishan Kishan anchored them to a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on Monday.Hyderabad’s win also ensured Gujarat Titans a place in the four-team playoffs. Defending champion and league leader Royal Challengers Bengaluru were already through, meaning only one place remained to be filled in the knockouts.Five-time champion Chennai was still in contention but needing to beat Gujarat in its last league match on Thursday and other results to go in its favour.Hyderabad, playing its first game after a week’s rest, cruised to 181-5 with an over to spare as Kishan scored a breezy 70 off 47 balls and Heinrich Klaasen mastered spin with a knock of 47 off 26 deliveries.Chennai made 180-7, struggling against the variations of the Hyderabad fast bowlers: Captain Pat Cummins led with 3-28 and complemented by Sakib Hussain’s 2-34 and Eshan Malinga’s 1-26.”Really satisfying, pretty tough wicket to bat,” Cummins said. “That partnership (between Kishan and Klaasen) was really tough. They just chose their matchups, and played some ridiculous shots.”The real stuff (playoffs) starts now.”Veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni came to the stadium for the first time this season but he was still nursing a calf injury and sat out his team’s final home game in front of almost 35,000 fans.Chennai’s Sanju Samson started in a brisk fashion on the slow pitch, smashing five fours and a six off the first 11 balls he faced before Cummins found his outside edge in the third over.Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad labored for 21 balls to score 15 without a boundary before he, too, fell to Cummins, but Chennai was well served by Dewald Brevis (44) and Kartik Sharma (32) scoring at a healthy rate in the middle overs.However, they were overshadowed by Hyderabad’s Kishan and Klaasen, who was dropped on 18. The pair combined for 75 for the third wicket until Klaasen was stumped. But Kishan batted on to six runs from victory.”We were in the game until the second-last over,” Gaikwad said. “Everyone played their heart out today.”