Helped by Prabhsimran Singh’s 80 and Arshdeep Singh’s 3/22, PBKS beat MI by 7 wickets to climb to the top of IPL 2026 points tableLast year, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) had perhaps their best IPL season in over a decade, but fell at the final hurdle. In the early stages of IPL 2026, they look determined to go that one step further, maintaining their winning run against a hapless Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.The cornerstone to each of PBKS’ three wins in IPL 2026 before Thursday was a platform set up by one of their openers at the top of the order. After Priyansh Arya had stolen the show against Chennai Super Kings, his partner Prabhsimran Singh rose to the occasion with a 25-ball 51 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.The right-hander showed that performance was not a one-off on Thursday, smashing his way to an unbeaten 80 runs off 39 balls, in an innings filled with 11 fours and two sixes, to hand the five-time champions an unprecedented fourth straight loss of the season.Prabhsimran’s innings got off to a flier, with two boundaries in the first over. Those could have well been his highlights with the bat, had Jasprit Bumrah held on to a catch at backward point off Hardik Pandya’s bowling in the fourth over when he was on 11.Finding the boundaries with ease Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer are making this run chase look incredibly smooth Updates ▶️ https://t.co/Fn2dxJ4zYR#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #MIvPBKS | @PunjabKingsIPL pic.twitter.com/ZtCeFHR6V0— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2026The wicketkeeper-batter made MI pay for that drop. Allah Ghazanfar had sent his opening partner, Arya, cheaply back to the hut in the second over, leaving the onus on Prabhsimran to build the innings. After adopting a cautious approach in the remainder of the powerplay after Arya’s dismissal, the floodgates opened in the eighth over.Deepak Chahar has not looked like the bowler he once used to be, and the right-hander struck for a six and a four over long-off and towards fine leg to up the ante in the chase. Hardik Pandya reintroduced himself in the tenth over, but the surge against Chahar had given the wicketkeeper the impetus he needed in his innings.He struck Pandya for two boundaries to propel the PBKS innings and leave MI searching for options, outside of Ghazanfar, to make the inroads.Story continues below this adAlso Read | Quinton de Kock marks return to Mumbai Indians’ colours with 53-ball centuryThe 50 came up in the following over, and on a flat pitch and against an attack looking more toothless with each passing over, runs were there taking for the taking for the right-hander. He made full use of the opportunity on offer, staying unbeaten till the end to ensure PBKS coasted home to a win and remained unbeaten in IPL 2026.While Shreyas Iyer is expectedly the batsman whom oppositions look to remove early, the consistency shown by Prabhsimran in the early stages of the tournament should augur the side well. He had his most prolific season with the bat last year, where he made 549 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 160.53, playing a pivotal role in PBKS’ march to the final.If the early stages of IPL 2026 are anything to go by, PBKS can expect their dynamic opening batsman to either match or even go past that number in IPL 2026.Some of India’s frontline pace bowlers have endured a torrid start to IPL 2026, with flat pitches and short boundaries not helping them find any rhythm for a large part of their spells. The fortunes finally turned for Arshdeep Singh on Thursday. After conceding 50 runs in his previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he produced his best spell of IPL 2026, claiming 3/22 in four overs.Story continues below this adThe signs were promising from the first over as the left-armer got the ball to swing away from the left-handed Mumbai Indians opening duo of Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock, who scored a brilliant century. Success followed soon after as Rickelton became his 100th IPL victim, holding out to Shashank Singh in the third over.The onus was on Suryakumar Yadav to help MI recover from the early dent, but Arshdeep removed his India T20I captain off the very first delivery that he faced, angling the ball away from him to find the outside edge, and Yuzvendra Chahal took a sharp catch at short third man.PBKS had reduced the hosts to 12/2 in the powerplay with Arshdeep setting the tone. It was exactly the start they were looking for after Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field on a surface that had no help for pace or spin.Later on, with de Kock on the charge for MI, Iyer brought back Arshdeep to stem the run flow and the pacer delivered to his captain’s call, removing the dangerous Sherfane Rutherford with a pinpoint yorker and sending him on his way back for one run. The dismissal meant that a score that looked good to either touch or cross the 200-run mark would now finish in the mid-190s.#MI in 헱헲헲헽 trouble Arshdeep Singh with 2️⃣ wickets in his second over Updates ▶️ https://t.co/Fn2dxJ4zYR#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #MIvPBKS | @PunjabKingsIPL pic.twitter.com/6zPnONpClJ— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2026On a pitch where every other Indian bowler had found it hard to hit their straps, Arshdeep had bowled the match-defining spell. Both he and PBKS would help that it was the start of a good run for him in the tournament.Story continues below this adBrief Scores: Mumbai Indians 195/6 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 112, Naman Dhir 50; Arshdeep Singh 3/22) lost to Punjab Kings 198/3 in 16.3 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 80 not out, Shreyas Iyer 66) by 7 wickets.