Prince Yadav’s bustling three-wicket spell – highlighted by the nip-backer that bowled Virat Kohli for a second-ball duck – proved decisive in Lucknow Super Giants’ nine-run win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday night. The haul lifts the 24-year-old to 16 wickets for the season, good enough for third on the IPL 2026 Purple Cap list.
“I just tried to hit the seam and keep it simple,” Yadav said afterwards. “When you get someone of Virat bhai’s class that early, momentum tends to follow.”
LSG bowling coach Morne Morkel added, “Prince has been patient; the lengths he hit tonight were international-standard.”
Purple Cap standings – the quick version
• Spencer Johnson (RCB) still heads the pack with 17 wickets, but team-mate Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed the chance to go clear, finishing wicketless.
• Yadav joins Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans) and Eshan Malinga (Sunrisers Hyderabad) on 16 scalps, yet his economy-rate edge – 8.08 against Rabada’s 9.23 and Malinga’s 9.44 – nudges him in front.
• Chennai’s Anshul Kamboj also sits on 17 and could leapfrog Johnson when the Super Kings play on Friday.
Orange Cap: calm at the summit, shuffle underneath
The batting table remains an all-Hyderabad affair: Heinrich Klaasen (494 runs) and Abhishek Sharma (475) continue to set the pace, with Delhi opener KL Rahul (445) their nearest challenger. Ishan Kishan (409) and Rajasthan’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (404) round out the top five.
Kohli’s blank means he stays on 379 runs in ninth. “Tough one tonight – I mis-read the length,” he admitted. Mitchell Marsh, however, surged from the teens to 12th, his 111 off 56 balls pushing him to 367 for the campaign. “Sometimes it clicks,” the Australian shrugged. “I just aimed for the sightscreen and hoped for the best.”
Quick numbers, for those keeping tabs
• Highest batting strike-rates: Klaasen’s 201.6 continues to dwarf the field.
• Most catches: Ravindra Jadeja (CSK) leads with 11.
• Tournament MVP index: Klaasen, Sharma and Johnson make up the current podium.
What it means
LSG climb to fourth, level on points with RR but behind on net run-rate; RCB stay sixth, their play-off hopes still flickering yet increasingly reliant on others. The next round of fixtures gives both tables another shake; for now, Prince Yadav has added a fresh name – and a tidy economy rate – to the title-race conversation.
