In the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 El Clasico, between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Match No. 33 at the Wankhede Stadium, Sanju Samson scored his second century for CSK in IPL 2026. He was excellent in the first innings and held on at the other end.
Sanju Samson did not have a good start to the tournament as he failed in the first three matches for his new franchise, but now he is at his best. Sanju was seen playing smartly from the first ball and played some excellent cricket shots while controlling the innings. Sanju Samson completed his century by hitting a four on the last ball.
Sanju Samson stands in for CSK
Sanju Samson was batting on 85 when the last over started and he completed his second IPL century this season by scoring 16 runs in the last over of Krish Bhagat. He returned after scoring 101* runs on 54 balls. With his century, CSK crossed the 200-run mark as the Men in Yellow scored 207/6 at the end of 20 overs.
The wicketkeeper batsman has become the first player to score 2 centuries in #IPL2026. This is his 5th 89+ score in T20 in the last 8 weeks. He also became the 5th Indian batsman to score two centuries in the same IPL season. He had a bad start in the first three innings scoring 22 runs and in the next four innings he scored 271 runs.
Can CSK defend the total?
Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first. CSK had a good start after being invited to bat first, Ruturaj Gaikwad scored runs aggressively, but he could not convert the start of 22 runs into a big score and was out. Then wickets kept falling and Samson remained at one end.
Then Dewald Brewis’ short innings of 21 runs in 11 balls increased the run pace in the middle overs. However, CSK could not maintain the momentum and a flurry of wickets in the middle overs pushed them on the backfoot.
Although Samson had other ideas, he stayed till the end and took CSK to a good score. Allah Ghazanfar was the best bowler with four overs, 2/25.
Reaction of fans as soon as Sanju Samson scored a century
He has been a lone warrior for CSK. He is batting brilliantly under pressure. He is showing class. CSK’s batting is largely dependent on Sanju Samson. he is in excellent form
– Shivansh Rajpal (@rajpalshiv46534) 23 April 2026
We are living in the animal sanju samson era
Chetta Masterclass at Wankhede pic.twitter.com/Vqgfp8scPQ
– Pikachu (@11eleven_4us) 23 April 2026
🚨 Sanju Samson is only the 5th Indian batsman to score 2 centuries in the same IPL season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ObWqcu76Lm
-TheWicketReport (@WicketReport) 23 April 2026
Chetta in last 4 matches for CSK:💛
115* (56) vs Delhi Capitals.
48(32) vs Kolkata Knight Riders.
7(3) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.
101* (54) vs Mumbai Indians.First 3 matches for CSK – 22 runs.
Next 4 matches for CSK – 271 runs.Samson is dominating this season. good business… pic.twitter.com/FAS19J2SoN
– Danish (@BhttDNSH100) 23 April 2026
Sanju ‘Run Machine’ Samson becomes the first player to score 2 centuries #IPL2026. This is his 5th 89+ score in T20 in the last 8 weeks. I haven’t seen any player who performs so consistently in this format, but this is what establishes #sanjusamson Different from others.#MIvCSK… pic.twitter.com/bsV6xJQcRk
– Tejan Srivastava (@BeingTeJan) 23 April 2026
Sanju -101*- Samson 🫡🔥#tataipl2026 #iplt20 #mivcsk#csk #me
– Mr.KalyanPSPK61🔥➡️ (@KalyanPSPK61) 23 April 2026
Samson will have to do 3 things in this formidable batting line up of CSK team
opener
middle order
finisher
blind man– Shakthi (@Sakthi297) 23 April 2026
Samson’s brilliant innings
– Sanjeev DSR (@Varisuthehunter) 23 April 2026
Also read: Mitchell Santner out of IPL? New Zealand captain injured his shoulder while taking a catch during MI vs CSK match
