IPL 2026: Are powerplays deciding matches this season? What RCB, PBKS, RR and SRH are doing right

'Well begun is half done' is a classic proverb that has its significance across all walks of life. For long, we have seen this to hold true in cricket where opening partnerships and new-ball spells have often been the main indicator of a team's chances in a fixture. IPL 2026 has pushed the envelope further.

Never has batting powerplay been so significant in any tournament of T20 cricket. Of course, teams across the globe, both in international cricket and franchise cricket, have upped the ante considerably in recent years but the IPL has taken it to another level.

For instance, in their historic chase of 265 against DC, the PBKS openers racked up an astounding 116 in the first six overs! It was a game where their own opponents managed just 68 but they were batting first and hence, the tempo was obviously different.

Like the Kings, Rajasthan Royals have been another unstoppable force in the batting powerplay. As have the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad. These teams are currently standing strong in the top-four of the points table.

Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh have gone ballistic for PBKS while Royals have arguably the most exciting opening pair of the tournament in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. It's fair to say that these two teams have topped the charts, statistically and in terms of psychological impact.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were the trendsetters of this carnage back in IPL 2024 but they have had a relatively quiet campaign by their standards thus far, as a pair. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli continues to reinvent his gameplay and with Phil Salt for company, RCB have been flying.

On absolutely flat batting surfaces, the powerplay becomes all the more paramount, given that the average par score in the IPL is no longer 180-200 as it used to be before the Impact Player rule came into effect. These days, no score seems to be safe in the tournament, with the average powerplay score this season so far hovering around the 62-run mark, up from 58 last year.

PBKS saw their total of 222, generally a tough score to chase, being hunted down by RR with four balls to spare. The 2025 runners-up had themselves made a mockery of the chase of 265 against DC only a few days ago.

With peak summer across most parts of India, the pitches are inevitably going to dry up and possibly get tired with repeated use in the second half of the season. Which means that the scores may not be has high as we are seeing right now.

This is when the powerplay will be all the more crucial for a side's success. The teams in the top-4 at the moment have shown how to go about the jobs. Sides like CSK and to some extent, GT, have shown the intent but have not been able to consistently cause the carnage.

The Impact Player rule is certain to be here till the next season at least, which means that the trend of massive scores will continue and that makes powerplay batting a high impact sub-plot in any game.

If PBKS, RR, RCB and SRH continue to dominate the charts in this metric, it is unlikely that there will be a change in the team list when the playoff berths get confirmed. It's upto the other sides to stand up to this mammoth challenge.