Watch: Ayush Mhatre smashes Xavier Bartlett for hat-trick of boundaries in CSK vs PBKS IPL 2026 clash

Ayush Mhatre walked into the middle during the second encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the home venue, MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, under the incredible pressure of not getting runs in the previous game, and in the hope of giving them a good start. 

At number three, Ayush Mhatre hoped to provide the home side a strong start inside the power play against the pacers and spinners. The right-handed batter didn’t get the same beginning with three dots, but later released the pressure with three successive boundaries and earned the momentum with the bat. 

Ayush Mhatre nails three successive fours against Xavier Bartlett

On the second ball of the fourth over, Bartlett went with a pitched-up delivery as the right-handed batter got his left leg out of the way and heaved it over the mid-on region as it came off the inner half but cleared the fielder inside the ring to race away to the fence for a boundary.

On the very next delivery, the Australian pacer kept the same length but brought the line straight as Mhatre let the ball come and held his shape before whipping it over the mid-wicket region for a strong boundary.

Watch the video here: 

On the fourth ball of the over, the pacer dragged the length back to put the batter on the back foot. But Mhatre had other ideas as he, despite not being in a good position, muscled the ball and cleared the square leg with ease as it went over the ropes after one bounce.

CSK crossed 200-run mark with aggressive approach

Mhatre was dismissed finally for 73 runs in just 43 balls with the help of six boundaries and five sixes at a strike rate of nearly 170, after getting a couple of lives through the dropped catches. One of the outstanding knocks came from Sarfaraz Khan, who dashed 32 runs in just 12 balls, thanks to six boundaries and one six at a strike rate of 266.67.

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Meanwhile, Shivam Dube, who was struggling on 14 off the same balls, cracked his way to an unbeaten 45 runs in 27 balls, with the help of five boundaries and one six at a strike rate of nearly 167, to shoulder the Super Kings to 209/5 in their allotted 20 overs of the innings. 

Brief Scores: CSK 209/5 (Ayush Mhatre 73, Shivam Dube 45*, Vijaykumar Vyshak 2/38) vs PBKS 12/0 (Priyansh Arya 11*)