Every 100+ IPL 2026 Opening Partnership (Match-By-Match)

Opening partnerships decide T20 matches more often than any other stat. Get to 80 for the first wicket, and you're almost always posting 180+. Get to 120, and the opposition is chasing a 200+ total on a fresh pitch.

IPL 2026 has delivered four century opening partnerships through the mid-season mark, led by Philip Salt and Virat Kohli's 120-run stand for RCB against Mumbai Indians — the benchmark that every other opening pair is chasing. Below is the live tracker of every 100+ opening stand in IPL 2026, sourced from ESPNcricinfo IPL 2026 scorecards and IPLT20.com.

The ranking criteria

Only unbroken-or-broken first-wicket stands of 100+ runs count. We track: partnership runs, balls faced, combined strike rate, opening pair, team, opposition, match result, and venue.

Every 100+ IPL 2026 opening partnership

Rank	Runs	Openers	Balls	Team	Opposition	Result	Venue
1	120	Philip Salt & Virat Kohli	69	RCB	MI	Won	Wankhede
2	114	Shubman Gill & Sai Sudharsan	72	GT	KKR	Won	Ahmedabad
3	108	Prabhsimran Singh & Priyansh Arya	63	PBKS	SRH	Won	Mullanpur
4	101	Travis Head & Abhishek Sharma	58	SRH	RR	Won	Hyderabad

1. Salt–Kohli 120 (RCB vs MI) — the benchmark

The innings: Salt 78 off 36, Kohli 42* off 28 at the point of breaking. RCB got to 120/0 in 11.3 overs before Salt holed out to deep midwicket off Bumrah. Strike rate of the partnership: 173.9.

Why it matters: Kohli and Salt have reopened the conversation about whether RCB have finally found the right opening pair. Salt's aggression in the Powerplay + Kohli's anchor role = the blueprint RCB have been searching for since 2023. Kohli's form also keeps him in the Orange Cap race — see our Orange Cap race analysis.

The match: RCB posted 212/4, MI chased down 166/9. RCB won by 46 runs.

2. Gill–Sai Sudharsan 114 (GT vs KKR)

Shubman Gill's 86 off 50 was the centrepiece of this stand. Sai Sudharsan, GT's T20 anchor, gave Gill freedom to tee off by rotating strike at ~120 SR. The pair took GT to 114/0 in 11.5 overs before Sudharsan fell for 38.

The match: GT 198/5, KKR 164/8. GT won by 34 runs. The stand put GT firmly back in the playoff mix.

3. Prabhsimran–Priyansh Arya 108 (PBKS vs SRH)

Prabhsimran Singh's reputation as PBKS's most explosive opener was already established. The surprise was Priyansh Arya — the uncapped auction pick who's become a breakout name. The pair went at a ridiculous 10.28 runs per over in the Powerplay, and PBKS posted 227 — then defended it.

This stand is central to PBKS's unbeaten start. See our PBKS squad analysis for the full context.

4. Travis Head–Abhishek Sharma 101 (SRH vs RR)

SRH's 2024-style power-hitting returned for one match. Head 59 off 31, Abhishek 42 off 27 — the left-hand combination that terrorised IPL 2024 bowlers. They reached 101/0 inside the Powerplay + 4 more overs, then SRH imploded to 174 all out. RR won in a chase.

Key nuance: A 100+ opening stand doesn't guarantee a win. SRH's middle-order collapse is the reminder.

The near-misses

Three partnerships worth flagging just below the 100-mark:

• Jake Fraser-McGurk & KL Rahul (DC vs CSK) — 94 in 57 balls. Rahul fell 1 short of 50.
• Rohit Sharma & Ryan Rickelton (MI vs LSG) — 91 in 54. Rohit's only fifty of the season so far.
• Yashasvi Jaiswal & Sanju Samson's RR top order post-transfer — the pair has been broken up since Samson moved to CSK. RR's new opening pair is still stabilising.

Speaking of Samson, the post-auction transfers have reshaped several opening pairs. See our IPL 2026 all teams squad analysis for the full new-look XIs.

What the data says about IPL 2026 openers

Three takeaways from the opening-partnership picture so far:

1. Powerplay strike rates are up. The average PP run rate for winning sides in IPL 2026 is hovering around 10.2 rpo — the highest ever at this stage of a season.
2. Left-right combinations are dominating. Salt-Kohli, Head-Abhishek, Prabhsimran-Priyansh are all left-right pairs.
3. RCB and PBKS have the most stable openers. Both teams have started the same pair in every match. Volatility at the top of the order (MI, CSK, RR) correlates tightly with points-table position.

The updating promise

This article updates after every 100+ IPL 2026 opening stand for the rest of the season. For the live points context, check the IPL 2026 points table, the Orange Cap leaderboard, and the full IPL 2026 hub.

✅ Fact-checked by the CricJosh editorial desk — last verified 2026-04-18.