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Urvil Patel hammered a breath-taking 65, including hitting the joint fastest fifty in Indian Premier League (IPL) history in just 13 balls, as Chennai Super Kings defeated Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets to notch their third successive win in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Sunday’s game also marked the first instance since 2019 that CSK successfully chased a target in excess of 180, as they moved to fifth spot in the IPL 2026 points table and pushed LSG towards elimination from the competition.
Inserted into batting first on a red-soil pitch, LSG rode on Josh Inglis’s blistering 85 off just 33 balls to pile up 91 runs in the Power-play before CSK bowlers, led by Jamie Overton’s 3-36, pulled things back to restrict them to 203/8.
In reply, CSK’s chase began briskly with Sanju Samson and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad adding quick runs at the top. But once Samson fell to Digvesh Rathi, Urvil turned the contest on its head with a ferocious ball-striking assault to get his fifty in 13 balls, as CSK stormed to 97 in their own powerplay.
By hitting the fastest fifty hit by a CSK batter, also his maiden IPL half-century, Urvil also equalled Yashasvi Jaiswal’s record for the fastest fifty in IPL history, coming in the 2023 season, and eventually finished with 65 off 23 balls, including eight sixes and two fours, coming at a strike-rate of 282.61.
By the time Urvil departed after being dropped on 62 by Rathi, the rest of CSK’s chase was seemingly a straightforward one. But LSG clawed back through Shahbaz Ahmed’s double strike and Rathi’s dismissal of Dewald Brevis. By the time Avesh Khan removed Kartik Sharma, LSG tightened the equation and raised hopes of a turnaround.
But Prashant Veer (18 not out) and Shivam Dube (15 not out) hung around to complete the chase with four balls to spare, including the latter hitting consecutive sixes. It also helped that LSG’s fielding let them down, as two catches of Veer were grassed under pressure by Rathi and Nicholas Pooran.
CSK’s uphill chase began with intent as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson hit eight boundaries collectively in 3.3 overs. But Rathi had Samson dismissed when he tried to pull off a quicker delivery, and was left to see his stumps being castled. His fall brought Urvil to the crease, and for the next few minutes, 32,000 odd fans at Chepauk were left spellbound.
Walking in after Samson’s dismissal, Urvil tore into the LSG attack with his quick pick-up of lengths and timing his maximums with impeccable power. Urvil quickly launched Avesh Khan for three sixes in the fifth over, before smacking Rathi for three maximums and a four.
The highlight of his stay at the crease came when Urvil launched Mohammed Shami for his seventh maximum over long-on to be at 48 off 11 balls. Though he managed only a single on the next ball, Urvil reached his first IPL fifty in just 13 balls, with chants of “Urvil! Urvil!” reverberating in the electrified stands. In a touching gesture, Urvil pulled out a note from his pocket that read, “This is for you, Dad,” along with some lines in Gujarati, even as the CSK dugout was full of joy.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) held their nerve in a pulsating last-ball thriller to knock Mumbai Indians out of the tournament with a dramatic two-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Sunday. Chasing 167 on a surface that had troubled batters all evening, RCB rode on Krunal Pandya’s fighting 73 and an astonishing late cameo from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to seal the contest on the final delivery.
The chase began chaotically. Deepak Chahar struck a massive early blow by dismissing Virat Kohli for a golden duck in the very first over, while Devdutt Padikkal also fell cheaply as Mumbai reduced RCB to 24/2. Corbin Bosch then joined the party by removing captain Rajat Patidar, leaving RCB wobbling at 47/3 at the end of the powerplay.
At that stage, Mumbai appeared firmly in control. Jasprit Bumrah was probing relentlessly, Bosch was extracting awkward bounce, and the sluggish surface made strokeplay difficult. Jacob Bethell attempted to stabilise the innings with a patient 27, but it was Krunal Pandya who transformed the chase.
Krunal initially absorbed pressure before gradually taking control against the spinners. He used the angles smartly, swept aggressively against Will Jacks and AM Ghazanfar, and repeatedly targeted the straight boundary. His clean six over wide long-on off Ghazanfar brought up a crucial fifty-run stand with Bethell and shifted the momentum back toward RCB.
Even as wickets continued to tumble around him, Krunal kept the chase alive. He battled visible cramps during the closing stages, repeatedly dropping to the turf between deliveries, yet continued to attack. His calculated assault against Bosch and Ghazanfar ensured RCB remained within touching distance of the target.
Agencies
