Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel owns up to the grind of injecting Team India's culture into an IPL outfit. Tough ask, he says—better craft strategies that fit while clinging to those core values. DC's buzzing under his watch these days, right after Sameer Rizvi sparked back-to-back triumphs against MI and LSG.

Axar keeps it grounded. National pride? Sure. But T20 demands its own tweaks. He's steering this squad toward the playoffs, buoyed by hot starts—and Rizvi's pair of POTMs.

Shreyas Iyer's sister Shresta yanked her viral Instagram video after threats rolled in and backlash hit hard. She'd posted a cheeky joke about Punjab Kings handing a point to KKR in that rain-soaked washout. Just banter, she said—took it down anyway, out of respect for her brother, PBKS captain, and the whole squad. No apology needed.

PBKS and KKR split the points. Fans lost it. Shresta caught the worst of the fury in those heated IPL clashes. Shreyas, though—he's steering a fresh-look PBKS now, Arshdeep Singh and the rest alongside him. They're chasing some real standing.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru smashed Chennai Super Kings by 43 runs right there at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. They racked up 250 for 3—their third-highest IPL total, and yeah, the best ever against CSK. Tim David exploded for 70 not out off 25 balls, smashing 3 fours and 8 sixes after strolling in at the 15th over. First time that's happened in IPL history, at least with the ball-by-ball data we've got. Rajat Patidar hung tough on 48 off 19 (1x4, 6x6). Devdutt Padikkal cracked 50 off 29. Phil Salt fired 46 off 30.

CSK folded to 207 all out in 19.4 overs. Sarfaraz Khan led with 50 off 25 (8x4, 2x6). Prashant Veer chipped in 43 off 29, Jamie Overton 37 off 16. Bhuvneshwar Kumar grabbed 3 for 41. Jacob Duffy snared 2 for 58. RCB's attack didn't buckle—Suyash Sharma (1/21), Krunal Pandya (2/36). Third loss in a row for CSK. They'd dropped that one to PBKS by 5 wickets too.

R Ashwin labeled his old CSK days 'mentally disturbing' after this beating. Ambati Rayudu ripped into CSK's dodgy tactic that MS Dhoni never signed off on. Captaincy numbers? Rajat Patidar's soaring for RCB. Ruturaj Gaikwad's dropping for CSK. Shreyas Iyer holding steady at PBKS.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru piled up their third-highest IPL total, 250/3 right there at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Crushed Chennai Super Kings by 43 runs. Phil Salt knocked 46 off 30 balls. Devdutt Padikkal fired 50 from 29. Then Rajat Patidar, unbeaten on 48 off just 19, smashed six sixes. Tim David? He walked in during the 15th over and blazed 70* off 25—with eight sixes. First time that's happened in T20s.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK skipper, chose to bowl first. Bad call. They leaked runs everywhere, but those last four overs? 78 of 'em. Fifth-highest in IPL history. Death-over economy at 16.65, the worst in IPL 2026. Bhuvneshwar Kumar snared 3/41. Didn't matter. CSK collapsed to 207 all out. Sarfaraz Khan made 50. Prashant Veer got 43.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit his 200 IPL wickets milestone for RCB's bowlers. Suyash Sharma chipped in with 1/21. Sealed the deal. CSK's now 0-3, coming off that PBKS defeat. Dewald Brevis close to a return.

Lucknow Super Giants' Mohammed Shami just fired back at the chatter about his India return. He's a "labourer," he says—keeps grinding out those overs, injuries be damned. IPL 2026's seen him shine. Strong Ranji numbers back it up: 37 wickets lately. Sourav Ganguly's in his corner, too. Wants him alongside Jasprit Bumrah.

Shami owned LSG's 5-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Picture this: a tight 2/9 spell that strangled them. Collapse followed. They limped to 156/9. Rishabh Pant wrapped it up unbeaten on 68 off 50 balls.

Cooper Connolly burst onto the IPL 2026 scene. Unbeaten 72 off 44 balls for Punjab Kings versus Gujarat Titans—five fours, five sixes. The 22-year-old Aussie snagged Player of the Match on debut. Funny thing, he grew up idolizing Shaun Marsh, who pulled off a similar breakout for the same side way back.

Sticking to what he does best, Connolly paced it nicely at first. Then boom—big hits everywhere. That innings delivered PBKS a vital win. It lifts Shreyas Iyer's rebuild, the one packing in talents like Arshdeep Singh. Rain had washed out their opener against KKR at Eden Gardens. PBKS ended up handing over a point there. Connolly's already looking sharp.

Shreyas Iyer called Connolly's rampage against Rashid Khan 'surreal' after that thriller. Aakash Chopra's got PBKS pegged for playoffs with MI, DC, RCB. Connolly might just turn out to be their wildcard.

Delhi Capitals stuck with Sameer Rizvi over Sanju Samson in that gutsy retention move. And boy, IPL 2026's paying off big. The UP kid's smashed an unbeaten 70 chasing down Lucknow Super Giants. Then came 90 off 51 to beat Mumbai Indians. Back-to-back Player-of-the-Match nods. Fire.

Rizvi's holding up those dodgy chases with real guts and muscle—key wins for DC. Sure, he bagged a duck in that 1-run heartbreak against GT, where they posted 209/8 chasing 210. Didn't matter. His runs have fixed the middle order. Axar Patel's skippering the machine just fine.

Durham grabbed the upper hand in their County Championship clash with Kent at Canterbury, rain be damned. Matthew Potts and Kemar Roach each snared three wickets to bundle Kent out for 197—Sam Northeast falling just short of a ton on 94.

They wasted no time enforcing the follow-on. Durham rattled along to 83 for 2 in their second dig, a 221-run lead already in the bank. Rain finally chased them off. Didn't matter.

Innings victory in sight now. Kent's in a real scrap.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board fired off a letter to the BCCI. They're chasing better cricket ties after that dust-up over Mustafizur Rahman's release from KKR. Nazmul Abedin Fahim from the BCB confirmed it—an email urging steady chit-chat before India and Bangladesh clash in September.

Rajasthan Royals hung on by their fingernails. They defended 210 to edge Gujarat Titans by six runs in a Narendra Modi Stadium thriller. Dhruv Jurel went off for 75 off 42 balls—five fours, five sixes—while Yashasvi Jaiswal's 55 got them to 210/6. GT's Rashid Khan picked up 1/39. Kagiso Rabada snared 2/42.

Sai Sudharsan looked silk-smooth in the chase, 73 off 44 balls keeping GT alive. Then Ravi Bishnoi tore in with 4/41. Middle order collapsed. Momentum swung hard. Jos Buttler nicked off early for 26. Tushar Deshpande held his nerve in the last over, defending 11 off it. GT finished 204/8.

RR's bowlers showed real depth there. This came right after their rain-hit 27-run win over MI.

GT must hurt after that 1-run scrape past DC. RR just keeps rolling early on.

Sameer Rizvi's got Delhi Capitals fans buzzing in IPL 2026. After that rough patch at CSK—snapped up for Rs 8.4 crore, then let go for Rs 95 lakh—the Uttar Pradesh youngster's piling on the runs. Picture this: an unbeaten 70 against LSG. Then a match-winning 90 off 51 balls—7 fours, 7 sixes—ripping into Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar. Holding onto him instead of trading for Sanju Samson? Smart move.

Dropped a duck against GT in that heartbreaking 1-run defeat. Still, Rizvi's on a heater. Three IPL Player of the Match awards in a row now. Joins Kohli and Buttler in that rare club.

Delhi Capitals shook off that GT gut-punch. Chased 163 for a six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Eleven balls spare. Sameer Rizvi smashed 90 off 51, seven fours and seven sixes—back-to-back Player-of-the-Match nods. Pathum Nissanka chipped in 44 to get them rolling steady.

MI scraped 162/6. Suryakumar Yadav topped it with 51. Axar Patel snagged 1/22. Mukesh Kumar grabbed 2/26. Lungisani Ngidi went for 1/34, T Natarajan 1/24—DC's attack squeezed hard. Rohit Sharma scratched 35. Spinners strangled the middle order flat.

Rizvi's 90 came right after his 70* against LSG. DC stuck with the retention, passed on that Sanju Samson swap. MI's already tripping after the RR defeat.

Rinku Singh grabbed his 41st IPL catch for KKR, topping Andre Russell's franchise mark right in the middle of that SRH defeat. Sharp work in the field from the finisher. But then came the run-out. Teammate Angkrish Raghuvanshi gifted his wicket away needlessly, and Rinku's frustration erupted—fists clenched, glaring at the mess.

That anger? It laid bare KKR's batting comms issues. Pundits keep picking at his middle-overs role too, the one that's blunting his late-order bite. Take the LSG game: he scraped 4 off 7 balls while KKR racked up 181/4. Still lost by 3 wickets.

Pat Cummins, SRH skipper, heads home now for a final back scan. Due back April 17. Ishan Kishan takes interim charge.

KKR's attack keeps getting hammered by injuries. Early-season woes pile up. Rain wiped out the PBKS clash, leaving vice-captain Rinku to shoulder more leadership in the chaos.

Bangladesh cricket's in absolute meltdown. Four Bangladesh Cricket Board directors quit in a single day—pushing the total to seven—right in the thick of an election probe, the T20 World Cup no-show, and whispers of political meddling. BCB president Aminul Islam insists he'll be the last to go. No malpractice here, he says.

Sports ministry's barking for board stability. Crisis everywhere you look. Stronger ties? Those plans are lost in the mess.

Punjab Kings pulled off a five-wicket chase of 210 in just 18.4 overs at MA Chidambaram Stadium. Shreyas Iyer wasn't going anywhere, unbeaten on 50 from 29 balls with four fours and three sixes. Priyansh Arya had torn into them earlier—39 off 11, three fours and four sixes—while Prabhsimran Singh chipped in 43 off 34, six fours and a six. Cooper Connolly's 36 off 22, all six fours, sealed it.

CSK racked up 209 for five. Ayush Mhatre led the way with 73 off 43—six fours, five sixes—Shivam Dube unbeaten on 45 from 27 balls, five fours and a six. Ruturaj Gaikwad scratched around for 28 off 22. PBKS bowlers hit back hard. Vyshak Vijaykumar grabbed two for 38 off four. Yuzvendra Chahal one for 21 in three. Xavier Bartlett one for 48 off four. Marco Jansen one for 43 in four. Gaikwad, CSK's captain, ripped into the bowling. Off day, he called it.

Iyer talked up the team's internal competition after. They play to impress each other, not outsiders, he said. Saba Karim pointed to Iyer's flawless timing.

CSK sit at 0-2 now, fresh off a 43-run loss to RCB. Death bowling's killing them—111 runs leaked in 40 balls at 16.65 an over. PBKS? Undefeated at 2-0, even with that rain-wrecked no-result against KKR. Coach Fleming touched on auction misses. Impact Player headaches too.

Essex wrapped up day one on 219 for three against Hampshire. Matt Critchley wasn't done yet—97 not out—and he'd stitched together an unbroken 152-run fourth-wicket partnership with Charlie Allison, who's 60 not out. Abbott grabbed early scalps. Kyle Abbott, that is. He rattled Essex down to 67 for three.

Noah Thain stepped in as sub for the injured captain Tom Westley. First time that's happened, thanks to the ECB's fresh injury substitution rules. Game on.