Indian Premier League: Punjab Kings open three-point gap at top of 2026 IPL standings
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
PBKS clear at the top after record-breaking victory over LSG
After coming agonisingly close to winning the title last season, the Punjab Kings have firmly announced themselves as the team to beat in this year’s Indian Premier League, as they are the only side yet to suffer defeat six games into the tournament.
PBKS confirmed our IPL predictions on Sunday afternoon at the PCA New Stadium by producing a commanding victory over the Lucknow Super Giants. The Kings scored a massive 254/7 in their innings and restricted their opponents to just 200/5 in their 20 overs.
Their total of 254 runs in their innings now stands as the highest by any team in the 2026 edition of the competition, surpassing the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s score of 250/3 in their second match of the tournament against the Chennai Super Kings on April 20.
The star of the show for the Kings was Priyansh Arya, who smashed 93 runs in just 39 deliveries, including four 4s and nine 6s. Cooper Connolly also played a key role in the team’s innings, scoring an impressive 87 runs from 46 balls at a strike-rate of 189.13.
LSG got off to a good start in their chase, with Mitchell Marsh, Ayush Badoni and Rishabh Pant all surpassing 30 runs. Aiden Markram tried valiantly to keep them in the game, but the total, combined with solid bowling from PBKS’ bowlers, proved too much for the Proteas’ skipper to handle.
The pick of the bowlers for the Kings was Marco Jansen, who notched up 2/36 in his four overs. Vijaykumar Vyshak was the team’s most economical with the ball at 1/30 (4), while veteran Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh also got in the wickets column.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punjab Kings | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1.420 |
| 2 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1.171 |
| 3 | Rajasthan Royals | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0.599 |
| 4 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.576 |
| 5 | Delhi Capitals | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.310 |
| 6 | Gujarat Titans | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.018 |
| 7 | Chennai Super Kings | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | −0.780 |
| 8 | Lucknow Super Giants | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | −1.173 |
| 9 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | −0.879 |
| 10 | Mumbai Indians | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | −1.076 |
Arya and Connolly make history against Lucknow Super Giants
As mentioned, Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly played starring roles for the Kings with the bat and were responsible for scoring 182 of the team's 254 runs against LSG, marking just the third 150+ stand for the franchise in the history of the IPL.
The highest partnership for PBKS in the IPL remains the 206-run stand between Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh against RCB in the 2011 edition, while the second-best was recorded by KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal versus the Rajasthan Royals in 2020.
Arya and Connolly’s partnership on Sunday is also the fourth- fastest 100+ stand for the team, with a run rate of 13.65. The fastest is still the 130-run partnership between David Miller and R Sathish at a run rate of 15.91 in 2013, also against RCB.
Fastest 100+ partnerships for PBKS in IPL history
- 130* (49) - David Miller & R Sathish vs RCB in 2013 (15.91 run rate)
- 119* (52) - Liam Livingstone & Jitesh Sharma vs MI in 2023 (13.73 run rate)
- 105 (46) - Deepak Hooda & KL Rahul vs RR in 2021 (13.69 run rate)
- 182 (80) - Priyansh Arya & Cooper Connolly vs LSG in 2026 (13.65 run rate)
