New Delhi: The new season of the Indian Premier League is in full swing. All ten teams have played one match each after five days of action. IPL 2026 began with high-scoring affairs, with the first two games of the weekend garnering 200-plus totals, but it took a sharp turn in the next three games of the week – all of which were modest totals.One trend to emerge from these five games is that regardless of the total – low, meager or high – chasing teams have emerged victorious. It will be interesting to see if this continues during the tournament. If so, the toss could become increasingly important for each team.
So far all five matches have been played under lights. However, day games are limited, with each team playing only two, where dew will not be a factor and the chasing advantage may be reduced.The pattern is troubling for bowlers. Barring Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans, which went down to the wire, the rest have been largely one-sided chases. On Wednesday too, when Lucknow Supergiants, chasing 141, reduced Delhi Capitals to 26/4 inside the powerplay, the partnership between Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs sealed the game with 17 balls to spare.Close pursuits add excitement, but one-sided pursuits dull the competition for fans.Let’s take a deeper look at the trends of IPL 2026 so far:Game 1: RCB beat SRH by six wicketsIn the opening match of IPL 2026, defending champions RCB hosted SRH at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. After going in, SRH recovered from 29/3 through Ishan Kishan (80 off 38) and Henrik Klaasen (31), with Aniket Verma’s 43 pushing them to 201/9. In reply, despite the early setback, Virat Kohli (69 off 38) and Dev Dutt Padikal (61 off 26) put on a 101-run stand as RCB bowled it out in just 15.3 overs.Game 2: MI beat KKR by six wickets.KKR scored 220/4 on Ajinkya Rahane’s 67 and Angkrish Raghunshi’s 51. But MI openers Rohit Sharma (78) and Ryan Rickleton (81) added 148 runs in 12 overs, straightening the chase as they cruised home with five balls to spare.Game 3: RR beat CSK by eight wicketsIn Guwahati, RR bowlers Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger bowled out CSK for 127. Vibhu Suryavanshi then scored a brilliant 52 off 17 balls, adding 75 runs with Yashwhi Jaiswal, as RR chased down the target in just 12.1 overs.Game 4: PBKS beat GT by three wickets.GT managed 162/6 with contributions across the order. PBKS looked comfortable at 110/2 before collapsing to 118/6, buoyed by Prasad Krishna. However, Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 72 in the last over ensured a tight win.Game 5: DC beat LSG by six wickets.LSG were bundled out for 141, starring Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan. DC slipped to 26/4, but Samir Rizvi (70) and Tristan Stubbs (39) put on an unbeaten 119-run partnership to seal victory in 17.1 overs.Early signs suggest that the chase is king in IPL 2026 – but the big question is, will it last?
