All posts tagged: IPL 2026 points table today

RCB on top after Bhuvneshwar’s masterclass and Krunal’s rearguard | Cricket News

RCB on top after Bhuvneshwar’s masterclass and Krunal’s rearguard | Cricket News

Krunal Pandya’s superlative 73 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 4/23 lead RCB to last-over win over MI Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) came to Raipur with contrasting ambitions in mind. The defending champions knew a win would take them closer to sealing a top-two spot. The latter needed a win to stay alive. And it was RCB who nudged past the five-time champions to go on top of the points table, eliminating them from the playoff qualification race. RCB have relied heavily on Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal for most of IPL 2026. But in Raipur on Sunday, both fell cheaply, as did captain Rajat Patidar, leaving them 39/3 in the sixth over. That was when Krunal Pandya was forced into a role he has not often had to play this season. The all-rounder had not had much time in the middle with the bat this season, but with RCB in early trouble, his experience suddenly became vital. Alongside Jacob Bethell, he began the recovery on a surface where strokeplay was not easy. He …

Is pressure of expectations weighing Rishabh Pant down? Tom Moody says, ‘you need to ask him’ | Cricket News

Is pressure of expectations weighing Rishabh Pant down? Tom Moody says, ‘you need to ask him’ | Cricket News

4 min readChennaiMay 11, 2026 12:00 AM IST Lucknow Super Giants‘ hopes of making the play-offs have been dashed, and their misfiring batting needs to take a lot of the blame. On a day they made 203 and still lost the game, it eventually boiled down to the 20 runs they failed to score on a flat pitch. Having got off to a strong start thanks to Josh Inglis’ 85 off 33 deliveries, Lucknow were on course for a total close to 250. From 112/2 at the end of the ninth over, they found themselves at 154/6 by the end of the 15th. As their middle order endured another collapse, captain Rishabh Pant’s performance through the season came under further scrutiny. Acquired for a record Rs 27 crore at the big auction ahead of the 2025 season, the wicketkeeper has managed only 251 runs in 11 outings to go with the 268 runs he tallied in 14 matches last year. Coming in at No.4 on Sunday, Pant had an opportunity to take the game further …

IPL: KKR bowlers, Finn Allen choke Delhi | Cricket News

IPL: KKR bowlers, Finn Allen choke Delhi | Cricket News

DC batters implode in a fifth successive home defeat as Finn Allen’s century shows hosts the way in KKR’s eight-wicket win at Kotla. The mathematical equations could be marginally alive. But the harsh bearings of the recent batting slump have staggered Delhi Capitals’ season before their eyes, in their own backyard. The result was another breezy chase for the visitors. Worse, a marauding Allen even tore their vaunted bowling attack to shreds with a 47-ball ton studded with 10 sixes. KL Rahul had batted out the full 20 overs the last time he was on this strip. He walked back unbeaten, on 152, the highest-ever score by an Indian in the league. On Friday, Rahul hung back and waited for the loose lengths from the Kolkata Knight Riders spinners until the slowness began to jerk the bat in the powerplay. Hard hands, a stiff bottom grip and a forced slog proved his early undoing, slowly unravelling the now familiar script. Even as Pathum Nissanka implied positive timing, warping the bowlers with his pick-up pulls and …

IPL 2026: Mumbai Indians’ play-off hopes all but over after Gaikwad, Kartik fire CSK to emphatic win | Cricket News

IPL 2026: Mumbai Indians’ play-off hopes all but over after Gaikwad, Kartik fire CSK to emphatic win | Cricket News

Gaikwad and Kartik steady the ship as CSK beat stuttering Mumbai to keep play-off hopes alive Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by eight wickets to revive their play-off push. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten 67 and Kartik Sharma’s maiden fifty did the bulk of the work, chasing down 160 with 11 balls to spare. For Mumbai, another evening of squandered opportunity — 159 all but sealed their fate in a season that has consistently promised more than it has delivered. It was a night where Mumbai had themselves to blame. Winning the toss on a dry Chepauk surface, they lost Will Jacks in the second over without scoring. Ryan Rickelton and Naman Dhir steadied things, threatening a total in excess of 180. In the powerplay, Rickelton hit five sixes — three of them off a single Prashant Veer over — but strip those away and he made only seven off his remaining 19 deliveries. The platform was being laid, not built upon. CSK stayed patient, chasing wickets, fully aware that Mumbai’s brittle middle order could combust …

Former India spinner lauds Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans captaincy, batting against Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Cricket News

Former India spinner lauds Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans captaincy, batting against Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Cricket News

3 min readMay 1, 2026 04:56 PM IST Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lauded the captaincy of Shubman Gill in Gujarat Titans’ win over defending Indian Premier League champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday, stating that the Indian Test skipper showed trust in his bowler when the situation may have dictated a change. When Virat Kohli dispatched South African pacer Kagiso Rabada for five fours in his first over, it may have seemed like Gill would have to look for a different option. But instead, the GT batter chose to persist with the Proteas bowler. Gill’s move paid off in the next over itself, with Rabada removing the dangerous Kohli for 28 from 13 balls in the next over. “How many captains have this ability? How many captains have the confidence to give their bowler another over after he has conceded five fours in the first over? Maybe he discussed with the keeper and executed the plans. Sometimes, you run behind plans, but the batter is good enough to get over it. He read the …

Rajat Patidar reacts to RCB’s nine-wicket win over DC: ‘On flat pitches, you need the bowling’ | Cricket News

Rajat Patidar reacts to RCB’s nine-wicket win over DC: ‘On flat pitches, you need the bowling’ | Cricket News

3 min readApr 28, 2026 07:15 AM IST The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) sealed a commanding nine-wicket win over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday, led by outstanding new ball spells from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, who shared seven wickets between them. Captain Rajat Patidar credited his bowlers for setting up the win, but admitted that he was surprised by how the pitch behaved after he won the toss and elected to field first. “Absolutely. Even I am surprised the way wicket played. All credit goes to the bowlers, Bhuvi and Hazlewood. They hit the right areas. The swing was normal, but the good thing was we got early wickets, and that kept us in the driving seat. The way Suyash bowled, stump to stump, it was really good to see,” Patidar said during the post-match presentation. Last game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium had seen a belter of a pitch, where Punjab Kings had chased down the highest successful score in IPL history. Patidar admitted that teams needed to have …

Axar Patel reacts to DC’s nine-wicket loss to RCB: ‘Even I don’t know what happened’ | Cricket News

Axar Patel reacts to DC’s nine-wicket loss to RCB: ‘Even I don’t know what happened’ | Cricket News

2 min readUpdated: Apr 27, 2026 10:34 PM IST The Delhi Capitals suffered a demoralising nine-wicket defeat to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday. The hosts were undone by an outstanding new ball spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, who ripped the heart out of the DC batting line-up to reduce them to 8/6, which eventually culminated in them being bowled out for 75 in 16.3 overs. DC recorded the lowest ever powerplay score in IPL history, at 13/6, after their top and middle-order was ripped apart by the RCB new ball pair. Captain Axar Patel admitted that he did not understand what had happened to his side, admitting that they had to move on quickly from this result. “Even I don’t know what happened. That’s why they say you have to be on your toes in cricket. We have to move on from this match. From today’s point of view, you can say it did affect, but you can look back, if the catches were taken or had …

Stephen Fleming on changing team: Concerned we would be exposed early | Cricket News

Stephen Fleming on changing team: Concerned we would be exposed early | Cricket News

3 min readApr 26, 2026 08:35 PM IST As Chennai Super Kings suffered another costly defeat, this time at the hands of Gujarat Titans at home on Sunday, the spotlight once again fell on head coach Stephen Fleming and the decision to play Urvil Patel, which disturbed the batting combination. Coming in at No 3, he lasted just three deliveries, which forced CSK to use Sarfaraz Khan as an Impact Player inside the powerplay overs. Speaking after the defeat, Fleming said they made the decision to include Urvil because of Gujarat’s strong pace attack. “We were a little bit worried about our batting order against these guys,” Fleming admitted. “It’s a very good bowling attack, and we know that they’ve got pace and bounce. So we were a little bit concerned that if there was some movement and bounce in the wicket, that we could be exposed early. And last time we played here it spun, and we played well against Kolkata. So we were expecting something similar, but it was a little bit different …

Why MS Dhoni may not return for Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans | Cricket News

Why MS Dhoni may not return for Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans | Cricket News

As the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) prepared to take on the Gujarat Titans at Chepauk, a familiar question was ringing in the air. Will MS Dhoni take the field on Sunday? Having been sidelined for two weeks at the start of the tournament due to a calf injury, the former captain had been undergoing rehab and, after successfully completing the fitness test, even joined the squad for their away trips to Hyderabad and Mumbai this week, but didn’t start the matches with the official word from the CSK camp being that he is still on the road to recovery. But The Indian Express understands that Dhoni is fit and is only delaying his comeback because he doesn’t want to disturb a combination that now appears settled. On Saturday, head coach Stephen Fleming still maintained that Dhoni is being closely watched. “He’s progressing well. He’s on the road to recovery and doing everything that’s being asked of him,” Fleming said without revealing much about when Dhoni is expected to take the field. However, sources in the …