SRH vs CSK Live Score, IPL 2026: Hyderabad 14/0 (2 ovs), Abhishek-Travis Head begin

Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head begin for Hyderabad against Matthew Short. Good start for Short as he concedes just 4 runs.

Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru to deny them the top spot in the IPL 2026 Points Table. DC jump to 4th spot. 

IPL 2026 Points Table

Team	P	W	L	NR	PTS	NRR
PBKS	5	4	0	1	9	1.067
RCB	6	4	2	0	8	1.171
RR	5	4	1	0	8	0.889
DC	5	3	2	0	6	0.310
GT	5	3	2	0	6	0.018
SRH	5	2	3	0	4	0.576
LSG	5	2	3	0	4	-0.804
CSK	5	2	3	0	4	-0.846
MI	5	1	4	0	2	-1.076
KKR	6	0	5	1	1	-1.149

Matt Short is back for Chennai Super Kings. Mukesh Choudhary comes in place for injured Khaleel Ahmed. 

Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Matthew Short, Anshul Kambok, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh

Impact Subs: Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Matt Henry

Dilshan Madushanka is all set for IPL debut today as he is among the Impact subs for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He comes in place of Harsh Dubey.

Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora (wk), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Eshan Malinga

Impact Subs: Smaran Ravichandran, Harsh Dubey, Liam Livingstone, Dilshan Madushanka, Harshal Patel

Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has won the toss and opted to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Both teams are warming up with 10 minutes to go for the toss. However, no warm-up for Pat Cummins or MS Dhoni yet. And it does not look like either of them will feature in the match. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad can breathe a sigh of relief as Pat Cummins has rejoined the squad. He will be in the dugout today, but will he play and lead the team?

Almost time ⏳🚌 pic.twitter.com/S9VRqTzDHp

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 18, 2026

After missing the first five games due to an injury, MS Dhoni is in the CSK squad that has travelled to Hyderabad. He did not travel to Guwahati and Bengaluru for the away games. As he is with the squad, there is hope that he will be CSK's Impact player, with Sanju Samson continuing the wicketkeeping duties. 

Ready. Set. Roar! 🦁 #WhistlePodu #SRHvCSK pic.twitter.com/NQKqQYnsln

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 18, 2026

LLLWW: Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, have bounced back with two consecutive wins. But they are not out of the woods yet. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad's form is of concern. Barring Ayush Mhatre and Sarfaraz Khan, no batter has been consistent. The good news is that Sanju Samson has returned to form after three single-digit scores. With Dewald Brevis back in the mix, CSK's batting has received the boost they needed.

However, their bowling continues to be a concern, especially the pace attack. Khaleel was their most economic bolwer but he has been ruled out. The onus is on Anshul Kamboj and Jamie Overton to make things work against a batting superpower like SRH. Mukesh Chaudhary is likely to replace Khaleel in the Playing XI.

LWLLW: Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a topsy-turvy campaign so far. With Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head also going through their own ups and downs, batting responsibility has been largely on Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan. These two batters have scored 43% of SRH's runs this season. But as the race for the playoffs is about to begin, other batters have to come to the party.

However, SRH will be happy with how their new recruits have performed with the ball. Two deubtants, Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, blew Rajasthan Royals away in their last game with four wickets each. With Pat Cummins set to return soon, Hyderabad will be happy with their Indian bowlers' performance, and they need one such show against Chennai. They might also look at Liam Livingstone to add depth to the spin attack.

Historically, CSK have dominated this rivalry. The two teams have faced off 22 times in the IPL, with CSK winning 15 matches and SRH securing 7 victories. However, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, SRH have had an edge, winning three out of five games. In the last two encounters in Hyderabad, SRH won both.