IPL 2026, Week 3: The Gap Begins to Widen Between the Favorites and the Rest

The third week of IPL 2026 has finally begun to show a gap in quality between the franchises. The shape of the table and the playoff favorites have started to reveal themselves, as we witnessed a week of dominance for some and disappointment for others.

Sunday, we had the Lucknow Super Giants hosting Gujarat Titans in the afternoon clash of the weekend double header. After the superb chase against Kolkata, it was a sluggish batting display from Lucknow, who scored a lacklustre 164/8. Gujarat captain Shubman Gill and veteran Jos Buttler scored half-centuries to help the Titans patiently reach their target with eight balls and seven wickets to spare. 

In the evening, Royal Challengers Bengaluru travelled to play rivals Mumbai Indians in another Wankhede batting classic, which became the longest running IPL match of all time. In those 262 minutes, maximums flew around the small ground courtesy of Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar and Tim David, along with Virat Kohli obviously who played a more grounded innings, to get Bengaluru to 240/4. The target was still very attainable, but a slow start and a lack of sixes saw the required run rate skyrocket. With 71 from just 31 balls, Sherfane Rutherford fought till the very end, but to no avail as Mumbai fell 18 runs short of RCB’s target.

On Monday, Sunrisers Hyderabad finally put the Rajasthan Royals juggernaut to a halt with a massive 57 run win. Skipper Ishan Kishan smashed 91 from 44 to get Hyderabad to 216/6, with another Vaibhav Sooryavanshi barrage being expected in the chase. But on his very first ball, debutant Praful Hinge stunned him and Rajasthan by having caught on the slog. Hinge and Bihar’s Sakib Hussain had dream debuts, with each taking four wickets, bowling out the Royals for 159, ending their win streak.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ horror start continued on Tuesday, after being beaten by Chennai Super Kings by 32 runs. The CSK batting scored 192/5, with Sanju Samson scoring 48 following his century against Delhi. Kolkata never really pushed in the chase with sporadic sparks from their batting. In the end, Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad stood out, restricting them to 160/7 with his figures of 3/21.

Wednesday once again saw Lucknow’s yawn-worthy batting barely bother defending champions RCB, who won with five wickets and nearly five overs to spare. Credit where credit’s due, Bengaluru’s bowling once again was up to par, with the pace of Rasikh Dar, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood being damaging and economical to bowl out Lucknow for a mediocre 146. A run of the mill chase followed, with Kohli once again showing his consistency with 49 runs to complete the routine win for the Challengers.

Wankhede as always became a batting paradise on Thursday, as residents Mumbai hosted the Punjab Kings. South African Legend Quinton De Kock was rampant in the absence of Rohit Sharma, decimating Punjab’s bowling to score the second century of this IPL with a knock of 112 of 60. However, besides Naman Dhir with a half-century, the Protean had no support as Mumbai scored 195/6. A low total for Wankhede, the in-form Punjab Kings had a walk in the park with Prabhsimran Singh and captain Shreyas Iyer scoring 80 and 66 respectively to reach the target within just 17 overs.

KKR faced another defeat on Friday, this time against Gujarat, in what has been their worst start in the competition. The season’s top buy, Cameron Green finally justified his price tag with a knock of 79 to get Kolkata to 180. Gujarat took the chase deep, with captain Shubman Gill, after his omission from India’s T20 World Cup, showcased his tenacity for the shorter format with a knock of 86, which saw the Titans get to the target in the final over.

After a small break, Delhi Capitals came back with a much-needed win over RCB on Saturday afternoon. Salt gave Bengaluru an early start as always with a knock of 63, but lacked support from his batting this time around, as RCB ended the first innings at 175/8. KL Rahul at his home, the Chinnaswamy, scored a half-century to get Delhi right into the chase. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar kept up his form with another three-wicket haul to cause problems for the Capitals, but South African duo, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller held their own and saw the chase through with just one ball to spare.

Hyderabad secured back-to-back wins after beating Chennai by 10 runs in the evening game on Saturday. Abhishek Sharma got up to his old tricks with a no holds barred 59 of 22 to get the Sunrisers off to a flier. They hit a rut in the middle overs, thanks to Anshul Kamboj, but a fifty from Heinrich Klaasen saw the SRH total get up to 194/9. Hyderabad culled CSK’s batting throughout the innings, with no player having the time to make a meaningful impact, as Chennai were restricted to 184/8.

Stars of the week

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar – An IPL icon and a cult hero of Indian cricket, ‘Bhuvi’ has not shown any drop in consistency in all these years, even at the age of 36. 10 wickets and an economy of 8.33, the swing king never fails to frustrate the eager sloggers of the T20 game. With a need for experience and consistency in the Indian bowling setup, the veteran has made a strong case thus far to return to the Indian blue after four years.

Shubman Gill – The captain of India’s Test and ODI side, being completely sidelined from the T20 team definitely got to the 26-year-old. With 251 runs in just four games, averaging 62 and striking at 154, Gill has shown that he is in fact made for the T20 format. His omission from the winning T20 World Cup squad was the result of competition, but with his form in IPL 2026 thus far, he has thrown his name back in the ring.

Upcoming fixtures

Monday, April 20 – Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

Tuesday, April 21 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

Wednesday, April 22 – Lucknow Super Giants vs Rajasthan Royals, Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

Thursday, April 23 – Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

Friday, April 24 – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

Saturday, April 25 – Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 3:30 PM IST (6:00 AM EST); Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

Sunday, April 26 – Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, 3:30 PM IST (6:00 AM EST); Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, 7:30 PM IST (10:00 AM EST)

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