New Delhi: Eshan Malinga continued his impressive form in IPL 2026 as Sunrisers Hyderabad played a disciplined game against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday to move to the top of the Purple Cap table.The young pacer took 1 for 29 in his four overs and maintained an economy rate of 7.20 in a high-scoring match as Mumbai posted 243/5 with the help of Ryan Rickelton’s unbeaten 123. Malinga’s only breakthrough – the precious wicket of Suryakumar Yadav – proved to be significant, helping him move ahead in the race for the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.With this performance, Malinga took his wicket tally for the season to 15, surpassing a group of tight bowlers who were even on 14 wickets. He surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer and Anshul Kamboj to grab the top spot.Bhuvneshwar is currently ranked second thanks to an excellent economy rate of 7.61 among the trio who are tied on 14 wickets. Archer ranks third with an economy of 8.27, while Kamboj ranks fourth with an economy of 8.56.The competition for the top four and below remains fierce. Lucknow Supergiants’ Prince Yadav occupied the fifth spot with 13 wickets, beating Kagiso Rabada with a higher economy rate (8.06 to Rabada’s 9.48).At the bottom of the list are Rabada’s teammate Prasidh Krishna with 12 wickets and Ravi Bishnoi with 11 wickets. Mohsin Khan and Krunal Pandya complete the top ten with 9 wickets each.As the league stages progress, the Purple Cap match is shaping up to be a tight affair with only a handful of wickets separating the leading contenders.
Latest IPL 2026 Purple Cap Ranking
| rank | player | wicket | matches | come on stage | economy. | best |
| 1 | Essan Malinga (SRH) | 15 | 9 | 31.0 | 9.16 | 4/32 |
| 2 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar(RCB) | 14 | 8 | 31.0 | 7.61 | 3/5 |
| 3 | Jofra Archer(RR) | 14 | 9 | 33.0 | 8.27 | 3/20 |
| 4 | Anshul Kamboj(CSK) | 14 | 8 | 27.4 | 8.56 | 3/22 |
| 5 | Prince Yadav(LSG) | 13 | 8 | 30.0 | 8.06 | 3/32 |
| 6 | Kagiso Rabada(GT) | 13 | 8 | 31.0 | 9.48 | 3/25 |
| 7 | Prasidh Krishna(GT) | 12 | 7 | 26.0 | 10.34 | 4/28 |
| 8 | Ravi Bishnoi(RR) | 11 | 8 | 24.0 | 9.54 | 4/41 |
| 9 | Mohsin Khan(LSG) | 9 | 4 | 16.0 | 6.37 | 5/23 |
| 10 | Krunal Pandya(RCB) | 9 | 8 | 27.0 | 8.85 | 2/30 |
