IPL 2026 | Match 63: CSK vs SRH| Preview and Predictions

Match 63 of the 2026 Indian Premier League season will see a clash between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Chepauk on 18th May. 

Indian Premier League 2026 | Match 63: Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad | 19:30 IST, 18th May 

Currently placed in the third spot, the Sunrisers Hyderabad could possibly qualify for the play-offs with a win. As for CSK, they are still in the hunt for that fourth play-off spot but will have to compete with the Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals who can still qualify as well. 

CSK played an already out of contention Lucknow Super Giants in their previous encounter. The Chennai batting lineup has been quite inconsistent with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad not being in form and with a relatively young and inexperienced middle order, the CSK batting hasn’t delivered much. Their bowling attack has conceded a lot of runs too and any change or tweak to the bowling lineup hasn’t worked either. Spencer Johnson was brought in this game as a replacement for an injured Jamie Overton (who had been brilliant so far) but he couldn’t make an impact against LSG. 

Playing more for pride than anything else, the LSG bowling attack bowled superbly with newcomer Akash Singh producing an incredible bowling performance with 3/26 in his four overs and breaking the back of the CSK batting. Kartik Sharma (71 off 42 balls) top-scored for CSK and last over exploits from Shivam Dube (32* off 16 balls) ensured the Chennai franchise reached a competitive total with a target of 188 set for LSG. 

In response, the LSG openers Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis wreaked havoc on the opening CSK bowling with both going hammer and tongs at Spencer Johnson and Anshul Kamboj. Mitchell Marsh (90 off 38 balls) top-scored for LSG and took the game away from CSK in the first 7-8 overs. Although LSG lost a few wickets in between, Nicholas Pooran (32* off 17 balls) led the LSG to a comfortable win in the end with 20 balls to spare. 

As for SRH, they suffered a humiliating defeat against the Gujarat Titans in their last fixture. SRH had decided to bowl first after winning the toss and they did well to restrict the Gujarat Titans to 168/5. Sai Sudharsan top-scored for GT with 61 off 44 balls and was equally supported by Washington Sundar who scored a fifty. Newcomer Nishant Sindhu scored a quickfire 22 off 14 balls. Praful Hinge bowled well and ended the match with 2/17 in three overs. 

Chasing a 160+ total for the much-hyped SRH batting lineup should have been quite comfortable but their top four batters barely troubled the scorers much and SRH was reeling at 32/4 at the end of the powerplay. GT’s opening bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj bowled tight lines and lengths and took wickets early on to hit SRH. The Sunrisers couldn’t recover from the early blow and were bowled out for a paltry 86 with GT winning by a huge margin of 82 runs. Rabada produced a Man-of-the-Match performance, taking 3/28 in his four-over spell with Jason Holder (3/20), Prasidh Krishna (2/23) also amongst the wickets. This was SRH’s second loss in their last five games and more like an aberration from their top-class batting lineup. 

Coming to the match-up, looking at CSK’s sub-par bowling performances lately, SRH hold an edge as their top three batters can take the game away from the opposition in a matter of few overs. Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan are brutal hitters of the ball. Along with that, SRH’s bowling has shown a lot of promise this season with newcomers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain impressing with their bowling and wicket-taking ability. Sri Lankan quickie Eshan Malinga has also had a superb season so far. 

With the experienced Pat Cummins coming back into the fold, SRH have peaked at the right time. On the other hand, CSK has been heavily dependent on Sanju Samson to give them a good start or guide them home when chasing big totals. 

The pitch at Chepauk is batter-friendly but has a little something for the bowlers as well. If a team batting first gets to a total between 200-220, it could be a winning total as the pitch tends to slow down in the second innings, making batting more difficult. 

Looking at both the teams, their form and ability, our prediction for this game would be a SRH win as they have a much superior and in-form batting lineup than CSK and if they bat first and set a 200+ total, it could be difficult for the hosts to chase it down in front of a tricky SRH pace bowling attack. 

Fantasy XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Kartik Sharma, Heinrich Klassen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Noor Ahmad, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga, Mukesh Choudhary. 

Venue: M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai 

Winner’s Prediction: Sunrisers Hyderabad