IPL Dispatch: Samson Keeps CSK In Playoffs Hunt; Somani-Led Consortium Expresses 'Deep Disappointment'

Many an eyebrow was raised when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) decided to trade two senior all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, to acquire the services of then Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson. Would the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter blend into the CSK philosophy, and be able to fill the void left by MS Dhoni's imminent Indian Premier League (IPL) departure?

ALSO READ: DC Vs CSK Highlights

Ever since his induction, Samson has been answering the above queries with a blazing bat and lightning-fast gloves. He became the toast of the nation with his T20 World Cup heroics, and has followed it up a series of high-impact innings for the Super Kings, which include two hundreds.

On Tuesday (May 5), the 31-year-old added another chapter to his growing Chennai lore with a match-winning knock in Delhi Capitals' (DC) den. Samson anchored the visitors' 156-run chase beautifully, putting up an exhibition of stroke-making on a tricky pitch to renew CSK's push for a playoffs spot. With that, let us take a look at some of the other major talking points from IPL 2026 in the past 24 hours.

Ngidi Back In Business

Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle put it aptly on air during the DC vs CSK game: there's no worse sight on a cricket field than a stretcher. He was referring to Lungi Ngidi's scary-looking head injury on April 25, that led to the pacer being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

Thankfully, Ngidi recovered swiftly and returned to action on Tuesday with a praise-worthy bowling performance. The Proteas seamer produced four back-to-back dot balls against the well-set Samson and dislodged Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to finish with figures of 1/30 in four overs. Though his team ended up on the losing side, Ngidi's display was a big win for Delhi.

Photo Of The Day

While Samson garnered the headlines for his Player Of The Match-earning show at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, he found an able ally in Kartik Sharma to finish the job. The 20-year-old bookended his unbeaten fifty against Mumbai Indians with another responsible, undefeated knock in Delhi. Sharma played a number of inventive shots, including the one pictured above, to end up 41 not out off 31 balls and hit the winning boundary for his side.

Somani-Led Consortium 'Deeply Disappointed'

Denying that it pulled out of the bidding process, the US-based Kal Somani–led consortium on Tuesday stated that it was "deeply disappointed" after losing the Royals' ownership bid to the group led by industrialist Lakshmi N Mittal. In a strongly-worded press release, the consortium said the final outcome did not reflect a "level playing field".

"Contrary to stories that have been planted in the press, our group was and has always been fully funded, prepared to close with certainty, and never withdrew our bid... We approached this process with the highest standards of honesty, integrity, professionalism and in good faith, but unfortunately that wasn't enough," the statement added.

On Wednesday's Menu...

After a low-scoring clash between DC and CSK in Delhi, expect another run-fest as SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) prepare to welcome table-toppers Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The Uppal venue is known for its batting-friendly conditions and with both teams armed with big hitters, 250-plus totals could well be on the anvil.

Punjab are aiming to arrest a two-match losing streak, especially with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, SRH, RR and Gujarat Titans all within touching distance. As for the SunRisers, they will once again bank on game-changing contributions from Heinrich Klaasen and Abhishek Sharma, while hoping for their Pat Cummins-led pace attack to come good in the death overs.

Quote Of The Day

DC skipper Axar Patel returned enviable figures of 1/25 in four overs with the ball, but that was not enough to avert a comprehensive defeat for the hosts. Patel was candid enough at the post-match presentation to acknowledge that a big reason for their faltering was Kuldeep Yadav's lacklustre form.

"I feel in bowling, I missed my partner Kuldeep," the all-rounder said to Ravi Shastri. Kuldeep was carted around for 34 runs in his three overs on a track that had something in it for the slower bowlers. The wrist-spinner has been off the boil for quite a while, with the franchise's head coach Hemang Badani also stating at the post-game press conference that Kuldeep "has not hit peak form yet and has not bowled at the speeds he normally does".

Elsewhere...

India retained their top spot in the latest ICC T20I rankings, followed by England and Australia at second and third respectively. The three-time World Cup winners sit at 275 rating points while England are at 262 and the Aussies at 258. In all, there is no change in ranking for the top seven teams with New Zealand (247), South Africa (244), Pakistan (240) and the West Indies (233) remaining at the following spots.

Meanwhile, former India batter Ambati Rayudu was appointed as the head of cricket operations at the Hyderabad Cricket Association. The 40-year-old, a former Hyderabad captain, will take charge with immediate effect on an initial three-year term.

“I am very happy to announce that I have been appointed as the Head of cricketing operations for HCA by Justice P Naveen Rao (SMC), M Jeevan Reddy (Secretary, HCA) and the apex council,” Rayudu posted on X, adding that he wanted to streamline certain aspects of the system.