Mumbai: Sanju Samson, the opener for Chennai Super Kings, delivered a standout performance in the high-stakes match against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026. Amidst a challenging innings for his teammates, the wicketkeeper-batsman took it upon himself to strike a remarkable century off just 54 balls. He achieved this milestone with the final shot of the innings, pulling Krish Bhagat for a boundary, concluding with an unbeaten score of 101 as Chennai set a total of 207 runs.
This century marks a significant achievement for the Kerala-born player, as he has now matched Rohit Sharma’s record for the most centuries by an Indian in T20 cricket. Abhishek Sharma leads with nine centuries, while Virat Kohli follows with eight. Both Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson are tied for third place, each with seven centuries in T20 format.
Most T20 Centuries by Indians: | Player | T20 Centuries | |——————|—————| | Abhishek Sharma | 09 | | Virat Kohli | 08 | | Rohit Sharma | 07 | | Sanju Samson | 07 |
This was Samson’s second century in recent matches, having previously scored a hundred against Delhi Capitals a few weeks ago after a slow start to the season post-T20 World Cup. His exceptional knock came at the Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai Indians.
Despite Samson’s brilliance, Chennai Super Kings’ overall batting performance raised concerns. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad began strongly but fell short, scoring only 22 runs, which became the second-highest individual score for CSK in the match. Sarfaraz Khan, elevated to bat at number three due to Ayush Mhatre’s absence, managed 14 runs, while Shivam Dube added just five. Dewald Brevis from South Africa showed promise briefly before departing for 21 runs, leaving the onus heavily on Samson, who delivered but might have felt the team was short by about 15 runs.
For Mumbai, bowlers AM Ghazanfar and Ashwini Kumar each took two wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Santner contributed one wicket apiece.
