Kagiso Rabada strengthened his position in the IPL 2026 Purple Cap race after delivering an impactful spell against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
April 26 proved to be a bowler-friendly day in the tournament, with 26 wickets falling across two matches, including a Super Over. While the bowling charts saw movement, the Orange Cap standings also underwent multiple changes during the day.
Purple Cap
Rabada returned figures of 4-0-25-3 as Gujarat Titans secured an eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings. In afternoon conditions at Chepauk, the pitch appeared to retain more moisture than expected, which aided the seamers.
The additional assistance allowed Rabada to operate effectively, consistently hitting speeds around 145 kph and extracting notable bounce. His spell proved decisive as he troubled CSK’s batters throughout.
With this performance, Rabada has moved into joint-third place on the Purple Cap table, taking his tally to 13 wickets from eight innings. At the top, Anshul Kamboj of Chennai Super Kings and Eshan Malinga of Sunrisers Hyderabad remain level with 14 wickets each.
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Orange Cap
Saturday’s high-scoring matches led to significant reshuffling in the Orange Cap standings. Virat Kohli, who had 320 runs, dropped from first to fifth within a single day as Punjab Kings posted 265 against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down 229 against Rajasthan Royals.
In Delhi, KL Rahul briefly climbed to the top after his unbeaten 152 — the highest score by an Indian in T20 cricket. His total of 357 runs in seven innings placed him first, though his stay there lasted less than two hours.
Soon after, in Jaipur, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi matched Rahul’s tally with a 37-ball 103, taking the Orange Cap due to a superior strike rate.
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Later, Abhishek Sharma moved ahead of both with a 29-ball 57. With four fifty-plus scores in eight innings, he now leads the run charts with 380 runs — 23 more than both Sooryavanshi and Rahul.
Heinrich Klaasen also strengthened his position in the top five, rising to fourth after scoring 29 in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s victory. He sits on 349 runs, just ahead of Shubman Gill (330) and Kohli (328).
