That\u2019s the curtain on the league phase of IPL 2026, with Rajasthan Royals (RR) sealing their playoff berth by beating Mumbai Indians (MI), while Delhi Capitals (DC) closed out a tough campaign with a win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). With the group stage over, attention now turns to how the Orange and Purple Cap charts look.<\/p>\n
RR needed a win versus MI to reach the playoffs, and they got it in large part through Jofra Archer. While his batting also played a role, it was his bowling that proved decisive in the chase of a knockout spot\u2014he finished with figures of 3 for 17. During the powerplay, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir were both sent back, and Hardik Pandya later fell in the same contest.<\/p>\n
That performance propelled Archer up the wicket-takers\u2019 list straight to third place. He moved past Anshul Kamboj of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rashid Khan of Gujarat Titans (GT), and Eshan Malinga of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Archer sits only behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and GT\u2019s Kagiso Rabada\u2014both of whom are on 24 wickets. Archer has 21 to his name.<\/p>\n
Bhuvneshwar, Rabada, Archer, and Rashid now have the chance to battle it out for the Purple Cap heading into the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The final day of the league stage featured two matches where there weren\u2019t many headline batting performances from the teams involved. Still, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a key role in the afternoon-evening fixture, while KL Rahul turned up for the evening-night clash. One of them ended the season on a high with a strong finish, while the other slipped slightly\u2014but still has a path to add to his totals.<\/p>\n
In the match involving Sooryavanshi against MI, Deepak Chahar made an early breakthrough. The runs that followed were not enough to swing the momentum, and the four runs Sooryavanshi managed meant his season total edged up only marginally to 583. At that stage, he was positioned at No. 4 on the run-scoring chart, trailing the GT batting duo of B Sai Sudharsan (638) and Shubman Gill (616). He was also behind SRH\u2019s Heinrich Klaasen, who finished on 606.<\/p>\n
Rahul, meanwhile, made sure he wasn\u2019t going to leave the tournament without a statement. Against KKR, he struck an innings of 60 in just 30 balls, lifting his season tally to 593. That total pushed him past a number of batters, including Sooryavanshi, and secured him fourth place at the end of his league-stage run\u2014though the ranking is likely to shift as the season progresses. Either way, it was a big finish for Rahul.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the curtain on the league phase of IPL 2026, with Rajasthan Royals (RR) sealing their playoff berth by beating Mumbai Indians (MI), while Delhi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026 Purple Cap Update: Archer Takes Lead","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"IPL 2026 Purple Cap update: Jofra Archer\u2019s late burst helps RR clinch playoffs, taking the lead as the race heats up after league phase.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n