IPL 2025: Chennai Super Kings’ playoff hopes tumble after massive five-wicket loss to SRH

Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost yet another home game this season. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat CSK by five wickets to register their first win at the Chepauk Stadium. With this win, SRH now have accumulated six points from their nine matches. 

With 28 runs needed, MS Dhoni turned to his death overs specialist Matheesha Pathirana to bowl the 17th over. The Sri Lankan star began with a wide ball and then saw Kamindu Mendis take a single in the first legal ball of the over. With 26 runs needed from 17 balls, Nitish Reddy took two runs to make it 24 needed from 16 balls. 

On the third ball of the 17th over, Reddy pulled Pathirana for a four and followed it up with two more runs. In the fifth ball, Reddy made room and hit the pacer for yet another boundary. There was visible happiness in the SRH camp as 15 runs came from the Pathirana over. The winning runs came in the 19th over with Jadeja bowling to Mendis and the Sri Lankan star ran two runs to end the game. 

Mendis and Reddy had joined forces at a time when the game was evenly poised at 106 for five in the 14th over. The pair added 49 runs for the sixth wicket in 29 balls to take SRH to a famous win over Chennai. Kamindu Mendis was not out on 32 off 22 balls with three boundaries, while Reddy was not out on 19 runs. 

Chennai Super Kings’ playoff nosedive after loss 

This latest loss for CSK will mean that they stay rooted at the bottom of the table with just four points from nine games. SRH, on the other hand, have moved to eighth in the table with six points, while Rajasthan Royals are now in the ninth spot. Chennai’s run rate too has taken a huge hit and now MS Dhoni’s side will have to win all their games. 

Playoff qualification isn’t guaranteed if CSK win all their matches, as they will have to hope that Mumbai, Lucknow and Punjab have to lose all their matches as well. This is also the fourth loss for Chennai in front of their home fans in the IPL 2025 season. Barring Dewald Brevis’ batting, nothing clicked for CSK. 

This latest loss will also  raise new questions about some of the players in the side who haven’t been able to perform. The next match for CSK is against Punjab Kings at home on 30th April. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, will take on Gujarat Titans in a key game next Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.