IPL 2026 Orange and Purple Cap race: Sooryavanshi, Archer, Tyagi could shoot up
Here’s how things stand on the Orange and Purple Cap tables at IPL 2026 with only two games left in the league stage, both to be played on double-header Sunday
ESPNcricinfo staff
Published: May 24, 2026, 1:15 AM (11 hrs ago)
This is how things stand on the Orange and Purple Cap lists at the end of the Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) game on Saturday, even though a lot could change within 24 hours with two league-stages matches – the last two – to be played on Sunday in IPL 2026.
LSG opener Mitchell Marsh wasn’t around for the Saturday game, so there was no real threat to the top five, or six, batters of the season. Marsh ended with 563 runs and the joint-sixth spot (and can go down as the season heads towards its finale).
But two PBKS batters got a move on after largely lean spells.
Opening the innings, Prabhsimran Singh scored 69 in 39 balls, a second half-century in five innings, interspersed by three low scores. That took his tally for the season up to 510 runs and the tenth position.
One spot below him was his captain Shreyas Iyer, with 498 runs after scoring 101 not out in 51 balls, which ended a similarly lean run: Iyer had crossed 30 just once in five innings leading up to Saturday.
The top six, meanwhile, remained the same: B Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill of Gujarat Titans (GT) are one and two with 638 and 616 runs respectively, followed by Heinrich Klaasen of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with 606 runs, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals (RR) with 579 runs, and the SRH duo of Ishan Kishan (569 runs) and Abhishek Sharma (563 runs), before we come to Marsh.
Of these, Sooryavanshi has a big chance to go up tonight when RR play Mumbai Indians (MI).
Prince Yadav, one of the success stories of the season, finished with none for 32 from three overs, making it the fourth successive game in which he had no wickets to show. He finished with 16 wickets.
The top five are: Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) with 24 wickets; GT’s Kagiso Rabada with 24 wickets as well, but at a poorer economy rate; Anshul Kamboj of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with 21; GT’s Rashid Khan with 19; SRH’s Eshan Malinga also with 19 but Rashid has a better economy rate.
Just behind them is Jofra Archer, who, like Sooryavanshi, goes up against MI and can move up if he can add to his 18 strikes. The same as Kartik Tyagi of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who play Delhi Capitals (DC).
