Punjab Kings became the second team after IPL defending champions Gujarat Titans to win their first two matches of the IPL 2023 join them on 4 points at the top. Shikhar Dhawan’s PBKS defeated IPL 2022 runners-up Rajasthan Royals by 5 runs to move to 4 points from 2 matches but are in 2nd position with Titans ahead due to their superior net run-rate – 0.700 as compared to 0.333.

Sanju Samson’s Royals slipped down a couples of places down to 4th in the IPL 2023 Points Table after their loss on Wednesday night. They had won their opening match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad with a whopping margin of 72 runs.

IPL 2023 Points Table. pic.twitter.com/zraNoLD6ZE
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 5, 2023

Royal Challengers Bangalore are currently in third place in the Points Table with 2 points from 1 match but have a wonderful NRR of 1.981 after their massive win over five-time champions Mumbai Indians. They will be taking on two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match No. 9 of the IPL 2023 on Thursday night and a win over Nitish Rana’s side can take RCB to the number one position on the IPL 2023 Points Table.

Shikhar Dhawan up to 2nd in Orange Cap race

One of the stars of Punjab Kings’s win in Guwahati was their skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who smashed an unbeaten 86 off 56 balls at the top. Dhawan’s brilliant knock helped him climb to second placed on the Orange Cap race with 126 runs from 2 matches – same as Lucknow Super Giants opener Kyle Mayers.

Shikhar Dhawan and Sanju Samson climbs up to no.3 and no.4 in the Orange cap list, Ruturaj Gaikwad still on the top of the table.#Cricket #cricketnews #CricketTwitter___ #OrangeCap #IPL2023 #SanjuSamson #ShikharDhawan #RuturajGaikwad #KyleMayers #DavidWarner @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/4yGogTCmas
— Fantasy Cricket Umeed (@Shishup84114629) April 6, 2023

Mayers, however, has a tremendous strike-rate of 210 as compared to 148.23 of Dhawan. Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad continues to reign at the top with 149 runs from 2 matches at an average of 74.5.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson has also slipped into 4th place in the run-scorers list with 97 runs from 2 games ahead of Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner, who has 93 runs.

Nathan Ellis climbs to 4th place in Purple Cap race

PBKS pacer Nathan Ellis was the pick of their bowlers, claiming 4/30 in 4 overs to restrict the Royals to 192 in chase of 198 runs. The Australian fast bowler has 5 wickets from 2 matches – same as Gujarat Titans leg-spinner Rashid Khan and Lucknow Super Giants leggie Ravi Bishnoi.

Nathan Ellis moves to the fourth place in the race for Purple Cap.#NathanEllis #MarkWood #RashidKhan #RaviBishnoi #YuzvendraChahal #TATAIPL #TATAIPL2023 #IPL #IPL2023 #IndianPremierLeague #Cricket #SBM pic.twitter.com/R4Pk9YmkWC
— SBM Cricket (@Sbettingmarkets) April 5, 2023

LSG fast bowler Mark Wood continues to hold the Purple Cap with 8 wickets from his first two matches in IPL 2023. Royals leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, GT pacer Mohammed Shami and PBKS pacer Arshdeep Singh have also picked up 5 wickets from 2 matches.