Three batters who have spent much of IPL 2026 hovering near the summit of the Orange Cap standings—at times even claiming the top spot—were all in action when Gujarat Titans (GT) faced Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2. The evening also brought a fresh change at the top of the Purple Cap chart.
Orange Cap leaderboard
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, B Sai Sudharsan, and Shubman Gill all found themselves in the thick of the action in New Chandigarh on Friday night, and each of them delivered when it mattered.
Sooryavanshi was first to make a statement after he had looked on course to smash the record for the fastest century in IPL history, but he eventually fell for 29-ball 97. This time he did not move quite as quickly, with the match conditions limiting him to an extent, yet he still struck 96 off 47 deliveries and missed out on his second hundred of the campaign. Even so, his output remained enormous, ending the season with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30.
The standout performer of the night, though, was Gill. He steered GT’s chase with a decisive 104 off 53 balls, raising his season total to 722. That keeps him 54 runs behind Sooryavanshi, but unlike his counterpart, Gill still has the final to play.
The same situation applies to Sai Sudharsan. Sai Sudharsan looked especially fluent, assembling a 167-run partnership with Gill for the opening wicket in the chase and then adding 58 from 32 balls. For the second time in as many matches, he was dismissed hit wicket. In the end, he finished on 710 runs.
As GT prepare to take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Sunday’s final, Gill and Sai Sudharsan will be carrying those cap ambitions with them—along with the bigger prize of the IPL title. That “double celebration” may be out of reach for Virat Kohli, who remains the leading RCB batter on 600 runs.
Purple Cap leaderboard
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has finally been displaced from the top spot. His nearest challenger, Kagiso Rabada, now holds the Purple Cap after striking in the RR innings—first removing Dhruv Jurel in the second over and then dismissing Sooryavanshi in the 18th. Rabada has 28 wickets in total, standing two ahead of Bhuvneshwar, with the two set to meet directly in the final.
Jofra Archer also had an opportunity to push for the summit after producing three-wicket hauls in successive matches, but he returned figures of 1 for 45 against GT. Even with that, he closed the season with 25 wickets and the third-highest tally.
Rashid Khan, meanwhile, went wicketless in Qualifier 2 and conceded heavily, finishing with 2-0-45-0. Jason Holder responded brilliantly in the face of Sooryavanshi’s onslaught, taking 2 for 27 across his four overs.
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