IPL Pulse: Welcome back and welcome home
12 April 2026
Your 2-minute morning scan of the IPL universe
Good morning.
Chances are you downed too many last night, missed most of the action and are now terribly hungover. Well, fret not, here's today's edition of the Pulse, your 2-minute morning scan of the IPL universe. It might not help with the hangover but at least you'll know what you missed.
CSK registered their of the season after beating DC by 23 runs at Chepauk.
Sanju Samson struck a sizzling 115, making a much-anticipated mark wearing yellow to take CSK to 212/2.
DC slipped from 61/0 to 76/4 with CSK's pacers brute-forcing their way through the middle order. Jamie Overton scalped four while Anshul Kamboj had three.
Earlier, PBKS on a canter against SRH. All of Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer struck fifties.
SRH blitzed 105 inside the Powerplay, with Abhishek Sharma smacking a 28-ball 74, but the assault fizzled as they finished with 219.
CSK won a game, at Chepauk no less! They had lost six games at home in the lead-up to this one and not only did they win, but they have landed on a that may finally unlock home dominance again. Of course, Samson's ton lit up the night but it's the performances of Overton, Kamboj and Gurjapneet Singh that'll likely please the think-tank more.
The award goes to Ayush Mhatre for embracing retirement while batting on 59 off 36.
The award goes to Ruturaj Gaikwad and Heinrich Klaasen for not quite being themselves.
The award goes to Noor Ahmed for an incredible save on the boundary and to Sarfaraz Khan for a stunning catch at backward point.
The award goes to Marco Jansen for a nonchalant one-handed catch in the deep that definitely didn't need to be one-handed.
The award goes to the Delhi Capitals for dropped catches and several lapses in the field.
CSK aren't the only team finding a winning-formula for home-games. Over the last two seasons, PBKS have quietly been establishing dominance at home and the key to their success - understanding . Numbers suggest that batting becomes dramatically more difficult post the Powerplay at New Chandigarh, something that was quite evident in SRH's innings yesterday. Punjab have been effective at exploiting this trend, both while batting and while bowling.
"That was for Fleming," said Sanju Samson, dedicating his century to CSK's coach. "I know how hard it can get. Leading a franchise from last five years, I know how mentally challenging it can be. So I just wanted to dedicate this to our coach Fleming," he added.
"Definitely we don't have that X-factor in our bowling lineup," admitted CSK's skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad. Some of his worries definitely eased after the performance his bowling unit delivered last night. "Bowling-wise, we were right on the mark," he added.
Delhi Capitals have been bowled out 31 times in the IPL - the most by any team.
It's a Sunday today and the birdies are enjoying some well-earned rest. Come on, they need a day off too. They'll be back with some juicy stuff tomorrow. They did mention something about prospective overtime before they headed off though, not sure if they were talking about themselves or about a certain captain.
Another double-header Sunday and it begins with the at home. Later, everybody's beloved Ro-Ko will be in action, albeit in opposing teams as at the Wankhede.
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will score centuries.