Samson was in sublime touch, hammering 101 off 54 balls, studded with 10 fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 187.04.
It was his fifth IPL hundred, drawing him level with KL Rahul on the all-time list. Only Virat Kohli (8), Jos Buttler (7) and Chris Gayle (6) are ahead. Notably, this was also the first individual century by a CSK batter against MI in IPL history.
After being put in to bat, Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave CSK a flying start. The duo made full use of the Powerplay, racing to 73 in the first six overs — CSK’s second-highest Powerplay total against MI, behind 90/0 at the same venue in 2015.
Gaikwad fell early for 22 off 14 to Allah Ghazanfar, but the momentum remained intact. Samson, along with Sarfaraz Khan, kept the pressure on, attacking both pace and spin.
Mitchell Santner broke the stand after being hit for boundaries, dismissing Sarfaraz for 14. Shivam Dube couldn’t make an impact, falling for 5 to Ghazanfar, who struck again in the ninth over.
Samson brought up a brisk half-century off just 26 balls and found support from Dewald Brevis (21), before Ashwani Kumar removed Brevis in the 11th over.
At 149/4 after 15 overs, CSK were well set for a big finish. Samson took charge against debutant Krish Bhagat, smashing him for 15 runs in his first over.
Jasprit Bumrah struck back soon after, dismissing Kartik Sharma for 18. Jamie Overton added late impetus with a quick 15 but was dismissed by Ashwani in the 18th over.
Bumrah bowled a tidy 19th over, conceding just 10 runs and finishing with 1/31. However, Samson ensured a strong finish, smashing 16 runs in the final over to take CSK past the 200-run mark.