The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 witnessed its first cliffhanger of the season as Cooper Connolly held his nerve to take Punjab Kings home against Gujarat Titans by three wickets.

In a low scoring contest at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Mullanpur, the runners up of previous edition started this year with a hard fought win.

Gujarat Titans’ sluggish finish

Gujarat Titans, led by Shubman Gill, were invited to bat first on a good-looking surface. Gill looked in sensational touch from the start, finding boundaries at regular intervals and setting the tone for the innings. Sai Sudharsan departed early, but Gill continued to score fluently and made 39 runs in 27 deliveries.

Jos Buttler walked in and tried to settle the innings with a composed approach. He could not finish strongly though, ending with 38 runs in 33 deliveries. Later Glenn Phillips also got a start but failed to convert it into a big score with 25 runs off 17 balls. The pattern continued across the batting lineup as none of the batters managed to fully capitalize.

In the final phase of the innings GT lost momentum completely and could not finish well, ending their innings at 162 for 6 in 20 overs.

Punjab Kings bowling dominates

For Punjab Kings it was a strong collective effort with the ball. Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up three wickets in his four overs while Yuzvendra Chahal chipped in with two wickets for 28 runs.

Marco Jansen also bowled a tight spell, giving away only 20 runs in his four overs and picking up a wicket. Their disciplined bowling ensured Gujarat were kept under control throughout the innings.

Cooper Connolly star of the night

Chasing a target that looked achievable, Punjab Kings got off to a flying start. Prabhsimran Singh played a quick cameo of 37 runs and gave the team early momentum.

However, the innings saw a sudden twist when skipper Shreyas Iyer fell for 18 runs and collapse followed as Punjab lost four wickets in the span of just 8 runs, bringing Gujarat Titans right back into the contest.

Despite the pressure Connolly stood firm and kept the chase on track. He paced his innings smartly, finding boundaries at regular intervals and staying unbeaten on 72 runs from 44 balls, including 5 fours and 5 sixes. A useful cameo from Xavier Bartlett with 11 runs off 5 balls ensured Punjab stayed in control during the final phase.

Connolly’s unbeaten effort guided Punjab Kings past the target as they completed a hard-fought win.

Prasidh Krishna leads GT attack

For Gujarat Titans, Prasidh Krishna was the standout performer with the ball. He bowled his full quota of overs, picking up 3 wickets in 4 overs with a disciplined effort.

Other bowlers contributed with breakthroughs as well but the total proved insufficient in the end. Punjab Kings eventually crossed the line by 3 wickets, sealing a memorable start to their IPL 2026 campaign.

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