Punjab Kings cruised past Chennai Super Kings in the latest IPL 2026 game to top the points table on Friday, April 3. With another dominant display, Punjab Kings players also took the lead in the race for the IPL 2026 Orange Cap and Purple Cap.

After leading Punjab Kings to a memorable win against Gujarat Titans in their first game, Cooper Connolly produced another memorable knock against Chennai Super Kings. Captain Shreyas Iyer top-scored with fifty to lead Punjab Kings to their fourth consecutive win at Chepauk. Ayush Mhatre, the 19-year-old prodigy, also entered the Orange Cap race by scoring 73 runs off 43 balls.

After Match No. 7, IPL 2026 has new leaders in the Orange Cap and Purple Cap races.

IPL 2026 Orange Cap leaders

There was only one change in the Orange Cap race after the most recent game between CSK and PBKS. Cooper Connolly scored 36 runs off 22 balls to surpass Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the leaderboard. With 108 runs in 2 innings, the young Australian is leading the IPL 2026 Orange Cap race.

Angkrish is not far behind with 103 runs in two innings. SRH's stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan is currently third in the scoring charts with 94 runs, followed by his teammate Heinrich Klaasen with 83 runs. Mumbai Indians openers Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma are also in the race after their big fifties against KKR in their opening game this season.

  1. Cooper Connolly - 108 runs in 2 innings
  2. Angkrish Raghuvanshi - 103 runs in 2 innings
  3. Ishan Kishan - 94 runs in 2 innings
  4. Heinrich Klaasen - 83 runs in 2 innings
  5. Ryan Rickelton - 81 runs in 1 innings
  6. Rohit Sharma - 78 runs in 1 innings

IPL 2026 Purple Cap leaders

With the ball, Indian pacers have been dominant in the early stages of the 19th edition of IPL. Punjab Kings' Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up two wickets against CSK on Friday to become the first bowler to reach five wickets this season, and took the lead in the Purple Cap as well.

Vyshak overtook the cap from Jaydev Unadkat of Sunrisers Hyderabad. CSK's Anshul Kamboj is also in the race after another two-wicket spell against PBKS. KKR's Blessing Muzarabani, who took four wickets against SRH, is tied for the second spot.

  1. Vijaykumar Vyshak - 5 wickets in 2 innings
  2. Jaydev Unadkat - 4 wickets in 2 innings
  3. Anshul Kamboj - 4 wickets in 2 innings
  4. Blessing Muzarabani - 4 wickets in 2 innings
  5. Jacob Duffy - 3 wickets in 1 innings
  6. Yuzvendra Chahal - 3 wickets in 2 innings

Meanwhile, Ryan Rickelton remains at the top in the most sixes chart this season. The Proteas star hit eight sixes against KKR and is leading Rohit Sharma, who has six sixes so far.

Also read: Shreyas Iyer leads from front as PBKS hand CSK second straight defeat in IPL 2026