Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru carried off from last season with dominating performances in their opening two games of IPL 2026. They trounced Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the tournament opener before overpowering CSK by 43 runs.
Meanwhile, Sameer Rizvi has been the driving force behind Delhi Capitals' dream start, producing two match-winning performances with the bat. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has carried his explosive form into the new season as well, giving Rajasthan Royals early momentum.
Cooper Connolly announced his arrival on the big stage with a magnificent 44-ball 72 for Punjab Kings against Gujarat Titans.
And with the ball, Mohammed Shami turned back the clock, delivering a fiery new-ball spell that powered Lucknow Super Giants to their first win of the season.
A recap of the action of the first week of IPL 2026:
Team Of The Week: No Stopping Champions RCB
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced a dominant batting display to crush Chennai Super Kings by 43 runs at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, on Sunday, April 5.
The result was largely set up by RCB's commanding batting effort, which left CSK with too much to chase. With this win, RCB registered their second successive victory of the season and moved to the top of the points table, while CSK slumped to their third straight defeat.
Put in to bat, RCB piled up a massive 250 for 3, with their top and middle order firing in unison. Tim David led the charge with a blistering 70 off just 25 balls -- with eight sixes and three fours, an innings that turned the match decisively in Bengaluru's favour.
He was well supported by Devdutt Padikkal and Captain Rajat Patidar, both of whom played aggressive knocks to keep the scoring rate high throughout the innings.
Padikkal hit hit A second successive fifty, smashing 50 from 29 balls, while Patidar blasted 48 from 19 balls, with six sixes and a four, towelling to the clueless CSK bowlers in an exhibition of mind-blowing range-hitting, and Patidar supported them with an unbeaten 19-ball 48.
RCB's batters attacked from the outset and maintained pressure on the CSK bowlers, finding boundaries regularly and capitalising on the batting-friendly conditions. The strong foundation laid at the top allowed David to finish in style, as the hosts posted the highest total so far of the season.
Padikkal was involved in two quickfire stands -- 56 from 37 balls with Phil Salt (46) for the second wicket and 58 from 21 balls for the third wicket with Patidar.
Padikkal took his time to get going, as made 18 off 17 balls before he shifted gears in dramatic fashion. He smashed Shivam Dube for a couple of sixes and a four and there was no looking back from that point onwards.
The left-hander fetched his second successive fifty of this IPL through a single off Matt Henry. RCB were 153 for 3 after 15 overs, and they added a further 97 runs in the last five overs, exploiting some poor lines by CSK bowlers at the death.
The RCB batters smashed 19 sixes -- the most for any team against CSK, surpassing the previous record of 17 sixes by Kolkata Knight Riders (2018) and Rajasthan Royals (2020).
In reply, CSK never recovered from early setbacks and were eventually bowled out for 207 in 19.4 overs. Despite fighting half-centuries from Sarfaraz Khan and a useful contribution from Prashant Veer, the target proved too steep.
Duffy Dazzles As RCB Start Off In Style
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru started off the new season in thunderous fashion, hammering Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the IPL 2026 opening match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
Local boy Devdutt Padikkal stole the show with the bat. The 25 year old picked up from right where he left last season with an entertaining half-century against SRH.
He smashed an entertaining 61 from 26 balls and was involved in a whirlwind partnership of 101 from 45 balls with senior pro Virat Kohli to power RCB's successful chase of 202 in just 15.4 overs, to start their title defence in spectacular style.
The Karnataka batter raced to his fifty off just 21 balls with a four off Harshal Patel.
This was the second fastest fifty by a RCB batter against SRH in the IPL behind Rajat Patidar's 19-ball fifty in IPL 2024.
Kohli was playing a competitive match after more than two months, but RCB's talisman looked in sublime touch right from the start.
Even though he hardly broke a sweat, the Kohli knock had all his trademark shots -- the whip over midwicket, towering straight boundaries down the ground and the elegant inside out lofted shots over the covers.
The standout moment of his champion knock was definitely the straight six off Eshan Malinga in the seventh over, taking full toll of an overpitched delivery on the stumps.
Kohli, who made 69 not out from 38 balls, is the first batter in IPL history to tally 4,000 runs or more when batting second, having massed 4027 runs in run chases.
New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy produced a dream debut as he ripped through SRH's top order.
Duffy stepped up quite admirably in place of the injured Josh Hazlewood. He registered splendid figures of 3/22 picking up three key SRH wickets in the Powerplay.
Those early blows proved crucial as SRH were restricted to 201/9 in their 20 overs on an excellent batting pitch where RCB chased down the runs in just 15.4 overs.
He was rightly named the player of the match to cap a dream debut.
Player Of The Week: Impact Player Sameer Rizvi Steals The Show
Delhi Capitals began their IPL 2026 campaign with a hard-fought win over Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on April 1, 2026, riding on a decisive unbeaten partnership between Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs.
Chasing a modest target on a slow surface, Delhi were in early trouble at 26 for 4 inside five overs as Lucknow's bowlers struck in clusters. The match turned when Rizvi, coming in as the Impact Substitute, joined Stubbs at the crease.
The pair first steadied the innings with careful batting, rotating the strike and avoiding risks against a disciplined LSG attack led by Mohammed Shami. As conditions remained difficult for stroke play, both batters showed patience to prevent further collapse.
After settling in, Rizvi and Stubbs shifted gears. They capitalised on loose deliveries and ran hard between the wickets to rebuild the chase and gradually take control.
Rizvi led the recovery with a composed 70 off 47 balls, accelerating after a slow start, while Stubbs supported him with a steady 39 from 32 balls. Together, they put on an unbroken 119-run stand for the sixth wicket, which proved a match-winning partnership.
Delhi completed the chase comfortably with 17 balls remaining, despite their early collapse.
Lucknow, who had dominated the first half, were left to regret missed chances as the Rizvi-Stubbs partnership took the game away from them.
Rizvi Stuns MI with Blistering 90
Impact Substitute Sameer Rizvi continued his red-hot form with a scintillating 90 off 51 balls as Delhi Capitals outclassed Mumbai Indians by six wickets in their first home game of IPL 2026 at the Arun Jaitley stadium on April 4, 2026.
Chasing 163, the 22 year old dismantled the MI attack with a fluent innings featuring seven fours and seven sixes.
Earlier, Delhi bowlers dominated to restrict Mumbai Indians to 162/6 despite stand-in Skipper Suryakumar Yadav's patient 51 off 36 balls and Rohit Sharma's 35.
DC Skipper Axar Patel was exceptional, conceding just 22 in four overs and removing Rohit. Leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam (1/24) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/31) chipped in, while the pace trio of Mukesh Kumar (2/26), Lungi Ngidi (1/34), and T Natarajan (1/24) shared four wickets.
Named Player of the Match, Rizvi credited rigorous self-improvement for his performance. 'I've worked on my weaknesses, especially against fast bowlers. I try to play according to the situation, take my time, and watch the ball as long as possible. Scoring runs here builds confidence for youngsters like us,' he said.
His knock earned him the Orange Cap with 160 runs in two innings this IPL. Rizvi's 90 is the second-highest by an impact player in IPL history, the third-highest for DC against MI, and equalled the joint-most sixes by a DC batter against MI.
Performance Of The Week: Shami Sinks Sunrisers
Mohammed Shami's inspired spell with the new ball helped Lucknow Super Giants outclassed Sunrisers by five wickets for their first victory in IPL 2026.
The 35 year-old dismantled the Sunrisers top order with the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in his first two overs, which proved crucial in restricting the hosts to 156/9 on a good pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium, in Hyderabad.
SRH's decision to trade Shami to LSG for Rs 10 crore last year came back to haunt them big time.
Shami showed supreme mastery and control with the new ball, using the slower balls to good effect on a good pitch.
Abhishek Sharma was deceived by the slower ball. The left-hander got a thick outside edge which flew to short thirdman where Manimaran Siddharth took a fine diving catch.
Shami then struck off his next delivery, getting rid of Travis Head (1) with the first ball of his second over. Once more, it was the slower ball that did the damage.
The first two overs by Shami completely turned the match on its head.
Shami registered excellent figures of 2/9 in four overs, including 18 dot balls -- the third most by a bowler in the IPL.
Performance Of The Week: Connolly Stars For Punjab Kings On Debut
Cooper Connolly couldn't have asked for a better way to announce himself on his IPL debut as he helped guide the team to a three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in Mullanpur on Tuesday, March 31.
Connolly, 22, marked his debut with a decisive 44-ball 72 after Yuzvendra Chahal's artistry with the ball to power last season's finalists to victory over Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2026 opener.
Seamer Vijaykumar Vyshak was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS with 3/34.
Captain Shubman Gill scored 39 off 27 balls as GT were restricted to 162 for 6.
Chasing 163 to win, Connolly and Prabhsimran Singh (37 off 24 balls) put on 76-run stand for 2nd wicket before the latter holed out to long-on.
Captain Shreyas Iyer hit a couple of lusty blows before getting hit on the wrist by a shot from Connolly down the ground. Punjab were cruising up until that point.
But once Shreyas was sent back Punjab quickly unravelled and went from 110-3 in 12.1 overs to 118 for 6 in 14.4 overs.
Even as wickets were tumbling at the other end, Connolly (five fours and as many sixes) held on at his end. Lower-order batters Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett smacked one six a piece, before Connolly put the finishing touches with five balls to spare to take Punjab across the finish line in the first thriller of IPL 2026.
Connolly was rightly named Player of the Match for his winning effort.
Bishnoi Spins Royals To Victory
Rajasthan Royals pulled off a narrow six run win over Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Saturday, April 4, 2026, successfully defending 210 in a closely fought IPL 2026 match.
Gujarat made a strong start to the chase and were well placed in the middle overs, but Ravi Bishnoi turned the game with a decisive spell of leg-spin. He finished with four wickets for 41 runs, breaking the momentum of the innings at a crucial stage.
Bishnoi dismissed Sai Sudharsan to end a key partnership and then removed Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia in quick succession. His strikes in the middle overs put Rajasthan back in control after Gujarat had looked on course.
Despite a late effort from Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada, Gujarat fell short as Rajasthan held their nerve in the final overs.
Bishnoi's spell proved the difference in the match, as his wickets in the middle phase halted the chase and set up Rajasthan's hard-earned victory.
Bishnoi, who was acquired by Rajasthan for Rs 7.2 crore (Rs 72 million), leads the Purple Cap race after the first week with five wickets from two matches.
Mumbai Indians Break Opening Game Hoodoo
Mumbai Indians rode on blistering half-centuries from former skipper Rohit Sharma (78) and Ryan Rickelton (81) to comfortably beat Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets as they chased 221 with ease in Mumbai, on Sunday, March 29.
It was MI's first win in a season-opener in 13 editions of the IPL.
While they had lost each of their first matches of an IPL competition since beating Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in 2012, five-time winners Mumbai Indians hit full throttle in their chase of 221, replying with 224/4 in 19.1 overs.
Former India and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit smacked a 38-ball 78 with six sixes and as many fours, his half-ton coming off a mere 23 balls.
At the other end, Ryan Rickelton made a belligerent 81 off 43 balls with eight sixes and four fours while making the most of two lifelines and treating KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy with disdain.
Rohit and Rickelton put on 148 off 72 balls to put MI in the driver's seat before falling to Anukul Roy's brilliance in the outfield. It was the fifth-wicket pair of Hardik Pandya (18 not out) and Naman Dhir (5 not out) that took MI over the line.
This, after Shardul Thakur shone on his MI debut, picking 3 for 39. He choked the KKR's scoring in the middle overs, restricting the visitors who at one point were looking set to put 240 on the board.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane smashed a 40-ball 67 at the top of the order while Angrish Raghuvanshi hammered 51 off just 29 balls, hitting six boundaries and 2 maximums to push their total to 220 for 4. But MI went home with the game, to end a 13-year long opening game jinx.
3 Losses In A Row! What Is Going Wrong For CSK?
When Chennai Super Kings walked out at the Barsapara stadium in Guwahati for their IPL 2026 opener on Monday, March 30, 2026, something felt off.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni wasn't there -- sidelined for two weeks with a calf strain. And for the first time in 277 matches, CSK were playing without either Dhoni or Suresh Raina.
The absence wasn't just visible. It was crushing.
What followed was a chaotic, disjointed collapse that laid bare a uncomfortable truth: this team still doesn't know how to function without the man who's held them together for nearly two decades.
From ball one, things spiralled out of control.
CSK crumbled to 41/4 inside the Powerplay. The top order folded without a fight. The middle order couldn't rebuild. By the time they limped to 82/8 in just 12.5 overs, it wasn't about winning anymore -- it was about limiting the damage.
They were eventually bowled out for 127 in 19.4 overs. A total so meager, the game was over before Rajasthan Royals even started their reply.
Jamie Overton's 43 was the only innings with any substance. The rest? Gone in a blur of poor shots, indecision, and nerves.
Here's the thing: This wasn't a night where CSK desperately needed Dhoni to come in at number seven and smash a few late boundaries.
What CSK missed was something deeper. They missed his presence behind the stumps. His ability to read the game in real time. The way he adjusts fields, settles bowlers, controls tempo, and finds small margins that others miss.
On a night when they had just 127 to defend, even a small lift in organisation -- maybe a smarter field, a better bowling change, a moment of tactical clarity -- wouldn't have won them the match. But it could have made the defense less of a disaster.
Record-breaking Sooryavanshi Destroys CSK
Instead, RR chased it down in 12.1 overs, losing just two wickets. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed 52 off 17 balls, reaching fifty in just 15 deliveries. There was no resistance. No fight. No plan.
The absence of Dhoni's influence wasn't just noticeable -- it was glaring.
Yes, CSK missed Dhoni. But they missed him more as a stabilising force than as a batting savior.
And here's the harder truth: Their top order failed so spectacularly that even peak Dhoni might not have been able to rescue them. When you're 41/4 in the powerplay, when your recognised batters disappear without a trace, when your innings never finds any structure -- no single player can fix that.
Dhoni will return, slot back in, and things might stabilise. But CSK can't keep avoiding the inevitable conversation: What happens when he's truly gone?
Samson flops as CSK lose to Punjab
At Chepauk, Punjab Kings delivered a thrilling chase, overcoming a formidable 210 to beat Chennai Super Kings.
CSK leaned on Mumbai stars Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dube. Mhatre, just 18, stormed in with fearless intent, scoring 73 off 43 balls. Sarfaraz followed with a whirlwind 32 off 12, showcasing his fitness transformation and explosive stroke play. Dube then dominated with 45 off 27, intimidating even Yuzvendra Chahal and pushing CSK past 200.
Meanwhile, CSK's marquee signing Sanju Samson struggled again, failing for the second straight game. Playing his first home match at the M A Chidambaram stadium, he managed just seven before edging Xavier Bartlett in the second over, despite a crisp drive on the previous ball. Samson, who joined CSK for Rs 18 crore (Rs 180 million) from Rajasthan Royals, had also faltered on debut, dismissed for six.
Punjab Kings Skipper Shreyas Iyer, despite a hand injury, led brilliantly with 50 off 29 balls.
Early sixes silenced the Chennai crowd, and his composed aggression guided PBKS to a comfortable five-wicket win. The day belonged to Mumbai cricket -- youthful flair lighting up CSK and experienced leadership steering PBKS.
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