Chennai Super Kings’ batting coach Michael Hussey expressed confidence that his team has the ability to win the remaining two games and make a run for the playoffs.

CSK’s seven-wicket loss to Lucknow Super Giants on Friday (May 15, 2026) has thrown a spanner in the works to make it to the knockouts for the first time since its title-winning campaign in 2023.

“It’s like every game is like a final, you know. And we’re in that situation now [where] we are going to have to win our last two matches. We still believe we can make it through. We’re going to have to take care of our business, obviously and probably need a couple of results to go our way as well. But that’s the nature of this tournament,” said Hussey.

Commenting on the loss, the former Australian batter reckoned CSK had enough on the board with 187, but the lack of wickets in the PowerPlay cost them the game.

“I think the way they started, they obviously were going to come out pretty hard, take their chances, and if they get away, they’re hard to stop. Mitch Marsh and Josh Inglis both enjoy playing on those sorts of faster, bouncier pitches coming from Australia.

“The plan was to try and get a couple of early wickets and then really put the pressure on them through the middle, but unfortunately, we couldn’t break that opening partnership until it was probably a little bit too late,” he added.

When asked if the CSK bowlers failed to hit the right lengths, unlike the Super Giants pacers, who kept things tight, Hussey felt that the margin for error was small against someone like Marsh.

“He’s [Marsh] such a big guy. You just drop a little bit short, and he can play that beautiful pull shot. You’re just a little bit too full, and he’ll hit you down the ground or over cover as we saw. He was in that frame of mind where he almost had nothing to lose. He could come out and take a few chances.”

“He actually said to me after the match that it’s that sort of pitch that if you just try and bat properly, it can be hard. Whereas if you take a few risks and things come off, then you know, it’s difficult to bowl to.

“For them tonight, he was able to get through that initial period and score quickly and unfortunately, probably take the game away from us,” remarked Hussey.