IPL 2026: RCB Win Opener, MI Beat KKR — Points Table & Tonight's RR vs CSK

IPL 2026 is underway. RCB beat SRH by 6 wickets. MI beat KKR by 4 wickets. Tonight RR host CSK at Guwahati — but MS Dhoni is out with calf strain for 2 weeks. Full points table, squad news, and tonight's preview.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru began their title defence in perfect fashion, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the IPL 2026 season opener at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28. RCB chased down SRH's total of 201 for 9, posting 203 for 4 to win comfortably. Jacob Duffy, one of the overseas players who replaced Josh Hazlewood, took three wickets for 22 runs on debut and immediately justified RCB's confidence in the signing.

The win signals that RCB have the depth and intent to go deep in this tournament again. Phil Salt, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, and Jacob Duffy are among the overseas recruits who give the squad international variety, while the core Indian batting lineup of Rajat Patidar and Virat Kohli remains intact. The Bengaluru crowd witnessed a dominant performance that raised immediate optimism about a back-to-back title.

Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets at Wankhede Stadium on March 29, chasing down 221 in 19.1 overs with 224 for 4. Rohit Sharma became the first capped player to play 19 IPL seasons, a historic milestone for the five-time champions. MI broke their opening-match curse and signalled that they have batting depth and death-over composure that has historically been a challenge for the franchise.

KKR entered the match in severe injury crisis. Akash Deep is ruled out for up to 12 weeks with a lower back stress reaction. Harshit Rana is out for the season. Matheesha Pathirana is awaiting his Sri Lanka NOC and is only expected by mid-April. Cameron Green did not bowl against MI, and Rahane cited a management decision. The injury pile-up at Eden Gardens is rapidly becoming KKR's defining challenge this season.

Match 3 of IPL 2026 takes place tonight at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati as Rajasthan Royals host Chennai Super Kings. The toss is at 7:00 PM IST and the match starts at 7:30 PM. Both teams finished in the bottom two in IPL 2025 and made major squad overhauls. RR traded their former captain Sanju Samson to CSK, receiving Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in return. But Curran has already been ruled out for the entire season with injury, a significant early blow to RR's bowling plans.

CSK's build-up has been severely disrupted by injuries. MS Dhoni will miss the first two weeks of IPL 2026 due to a calf strain, delaying the anticipated farewell season appearances of cricket's most beloved captain. Dewald Brevis is also out of tonight's match with a side strain. Sarfaraz Khan is likely to take Brevis's spot. RR's young captain Riyan Parag leads a batting lineup that includes 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, while Jofra Archer provides serious pace firepower. Sanju Samson wicket-keeps and opens the batting for CSK tonight against his former team in what will be an emotionally charged match for fans of both sides.

After two matches the IPL 2026 points table shows RCB and MI on two points each with one win from one game, while SRH and KKR have zero points with one loss each. All other teams are yet to play their first match. Tonight's RR vs CSK match will add the first result for both franchise camps in one of the most changed squad matchups of the new season.

The four-team playoff format means each team will play 14 league matches. Qualification typically requires around 16 to 18 points out of a possible 28. With RCB and MI already off to winning starts, both have early momentum heading into what looks like a highly competitive field. Watch RR vs CSK live on JioHotstar digitally and Star Sports on satellite.