CSK lost against LSG by 7 wickets (Image: IPL/BCCI)

Chennai Super Kings batting coach michael hussey He admitted that the five-time champions now have no margin for error after their defeat to Lucknow Supergiants left their IPL 2026 playoff hopes hanging in the balance.CSK suffered a huge blow on Friday when LSG chased down 188 runs with ease thanks to a blistering inning of 90 runs in 38 balls. Michelle Marsh On a live Ikana Stadium surface. After this defeat, Chennai is left with 12 points from 13 matches, which means that to qualify for the playoffs, it will now have to win both the remaining league games, as well as depend on other results.Despite the difficult situation, Hussey remained optimistic and said that the team would treat each remaining match as a knockout match.“Well, I mean, I really like this time of the tournament because it feels like every game is like a final, you know, and we are in that position now,” Hussey said, adding that CSK now need to win both of their remaining games as well as rely on some other results to go their way.“We have to win our last two matches. I mean, I haven’t studied the table that closely. Yes, there are a lot of teams competing for probably the last few spots in the top four,” he said.“This is where (the tournament stage) the pressure is really on everyone, not just on us, but on all the other teams as well. And you can see some strange things happening. So we still have a chance… we still believe we can get through it,” he said during the post-match press conference.Speaking during the post-match presentation after the match, Gaikwad remained calm despite the setback and insisted that the qualification scenario is “simple” for his team to move forward.“Okay, the first challenge is facing Chennai. It’s a long flight. After that, just make sure that we come back and improve on what areas we need to improve and yes, try to adapt and assess the situations as quickly as possible and it is a simple calculation for us. No matter how many games we play, we win every game. So I guess nothing is simple. I mean, it’s simple, nothing complicated. It’s very easy for us here. Nothing to worry about. Just make sure we have a good day. “Whoever has a good day, count it and hope we change things,” Gaikwad said.