Table-toppers Punjab Kings host a struggling Lucknow Super Giants under the Mullanpur lights
Match 29 of IPL 2026 takes us to the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium at Mullanpur for a 7:30 PM IST start on Sunday. Punjab Kings, still unbeaten and top of the table, welcome a Lucknow Super Giants side that has lost three of its last five.
Shreyas Iyer's PBKS have four wins from five completed matches, with one no result thrown in. It is the kind of start that puts a team in charge of its own playoff destiny by mid-April. Their most recent outing was a seven-wicket dismantling of Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, with Prabhsimran Singh leading the charge with 80 off 39 balls.
LSG sit seventh on the table with two wins and three defeats, and the two losses either side of a brief recovery have knocked the air out of their early-season momentum. Rishabh Pant's fitness has been the background story for weeks, and his form with the bat has not matched the expectation that came with his move to Lucknow.
Iyer and Prabhsimran are the engine
Shreyas Iyer has been the most productive batter in the competition so far this year. He has 203 runs from four innings at an average of 67.67 and a strike rate of 187.97, and the way he has batted at No. 3 has meant PBKS rarely need to scramble in the middle overs. Prabhsimran's knock against Mumbai was the kind of powerplay innings that turns a good total into an untouchable one.
LSG will need more from Pant at No. 3 if they are to post a competitive score on a Mullanpur surface that has generally favoured the batters. Their bowlers have leaked runs in the last two games, and against a Punjab side this deep, even a par total is unlikely to be enough.
Close history but a one-sided matchup on form
The head-to-head between the two franchises is level at 3-3, which feels like a distant consideration when you look at the current points table. Punjab lead by a clear margin. Lucknow are closer to the bottom half than the top four.
A Punjab win sets up a genuine gap between them and the chasing pack. A Lucknow win drags PBKS back into the fight and gives Pant's team some desperately needed breathing room. On current form, only one of those looks likely.
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