Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel has indirectly blamed his teammates after their 23-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings in the 18th match of the cash-rich league. Notably, this was CSK's first win of the season after suffering defeats in their first three outings of the tournament.
Axar Patel on DC's defeat
DC, who were coming after facing a 1-run nail-biter defeat against the Gujarat Titans, have suffered two losses in their four outings of the IPL 2026. After DC's defeat against CSK, Axar Patel reckoned that their misfielding during the clash cost them the match. He also blamed the batting unit for being unable to put up a run-scoring partnership.
"I think we got off to a good start, but if we talk about the chase, after the powerplay we lost two or three wickets in quick succession, which broke the momentum. I feel the difference in fielding was the game-changing moment for me. And if you look at it, whenever wickets fell, they fell in pairs, which made things very difficult. Wickets kept falling in clusters, and that led to a drop in momentum" said Axar Patel in post match presentation.
CSK vs DC, IPL 2026 clash
Sanju Samson played a brilliant innings of 115 not out off 56 balls to help Chennai Super Kings register their first win of this IPL season. They defeated Delhi Capitals by 23 runs on Saturday.
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After being asked to bat first, Chennai put up a strong total of 212 for 2. Samson was the star of the innings, hitting 15 fours and 4 sixes. He built important partnerships along the way, first adding 62 runs with Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored 15, then a big 113-run stand with Ayush Mhatre, who made 59. He also shared an unbeaten 37-run partnership with Shivam Dube, who stayed not out on 20.
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Chasing 213, Delhi Capitals fought hard but could only reach 189. Pathum Nissanka scored a quick 41 off 24 balls, while Tristan Stubbs made 60 off 38, but the rest of the batting line-up couldn’t keep up.
With the ball, Jamie Overton was outstanding, picking up 4 wickets for just 18 runs. He was well supported by Anshul Kamboj, who took 3 wickets, while Gurjapneet Singh and Khaleel Ahmed chipped in with one wicket each.
In the end, Chennai Super Kings sealed a comfortable win, thanks to Samson’s match-winning knock and a solid team effort with the ball.