IPL 2026 points table: KKR stay winless at the bottom after GT defeat

Six matches into IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders are the only team yet to win a game. Their five-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium on April 17 was their fifth defeat in six outings. The one point they have came from a no-result game against Punjab Kings that was abandoned due to rain. Every other match they have played this season, they have lost.

Gujarat Titans, by contrast, are now on a three-match winning streak. Their victory over KKR moved them to 6 points from 5 games and into fourth place on the IPL 2026 points table. The top four at the halfway stage of the league phase will be the ones fighting for playoff spots in May, and GT have put themselves firmly in that conversation.

Where every team stands after match 25

Royal Challengers Bengaluru lead the table with 8 points from 5 matches, having won four games and lost one. They are the defending champions and have been the most consistent batting unit in the tournament so far. Rajasthan Royals sit second with 8 points from 6 games. Punjab Kings are third with 7 points from 5 games, buoyed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's stunning form at the top of their order.

Gujarat Titans in fourth on 6 points are followed closely by a group of teams all sitting on 4 points: Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, and Delhi Capitals. That is four teams separated by net run rate, all needing wins urgently. Mumbai Indians are on 2 points from 4 games, and KKR sit last with 1 point from 6.

What is going wrong for KKR

KKR have been bowled out or have collapsed in the powerplay in multiple games this season, setting an unwanted record for the most wickets lost in the first six overs across IPL 2026. The problem is structural. Their top order has not been able to survive the powerplay consistently, which puts enormous pressure on the middle order before it has settled.

Sunil Narine has not fired as an opener this season. Ajinkya Rahane, their captain, has struggled to anchor the innings. Cameron Green finally showed his class against GT, scoring 79 off 55 balls, but that innings came with no real support from the rest of the batting card, and KKR still finished on just 180. That number was always going to be too low with Shubman Gill in the opposing lineup.

Their bowling has not been poor. Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh have all taken wickets across the season. The issue is they are routinely defending totals that are 15 to 20 runs short of what this pitch and this format typically demand. Until KKR's batting finds a way to consistently put 190-plus on the board, or consistently chase 180-plus, the results are unlikely to change.

KKR's remaining fixtures and what they need

KKR play Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on April 19. Eden Gardens is their home ground, and they will need the crowd behind them. Rajasthan are second on the table and in good form, so it will not be a comfortable night. After that, KKR face Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Super Giants, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their next cluster of fixtures.

To qualify for the playoffs, KKR almost certainly need to win at least five of their remaining eight league games. That would bring them to 11 points, which has historically been the minimum needed to make the top four in a 10-team IPL season. Winning five from eight is not impossible, but doing it from this low a base, with the batting still unsettled, makes it a genuinely steep ask.

The race for the top four is wide open

With four teams on 4 points and two more games being played on April 18, the middle section of the table is going to shift again before the weekend is over. SRH vs CSK and RCB vs DC are both live tonight. A win for CSK takes them to 6 points, level with GT. A win for DC pulls them into the same group. RCB winning would extend their lead at the top to 10 points from 6 games.

The playoff race in IPL 2026 is being shaped by a large middle pack and one team pulling away at the top. KKR are the outlier at the other end. They need to win their next game on April 19 against Rajasthan to stay in any realistic conversation about the playoffs.