New IPL season. New Chandigarh. And a new kid on the block.

Cooper Connolly announced himself on the IPL stage on the very first attempt, regaling the home crowd with a belligerent, unbeaten 72 (44b, 5×4, 5×6) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium here on Tuesday (March 31, 2026).

The young Australian’s debut heroics, coupled with a fine bowling show, led by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (two for 28), propelled Punjab Kings to a nervy three-wicket triumph over Gujarat Titans.

Pursuing 163 to get off the mark in the 19th edition, PBKS appeared to be coasting to the target when Connolly and Prabhsimran Singh (37, 24b, 1×4, 4×6) combined for a 76-run second-wicket alliance. But GT raised hopes of an improbable fightback with a flurry of wickets (83 for one to 118 for six), including four in the blink of an eye.

Connolly, however, had the final say as he prevented the Shreyas Iyer-led side from committing harakiri — five balls were left in the bank when the 22-year-old completed the chase in style with a boundary off Washington Sundar.

The southpaw went after some of the best in the business, with four of his five maximums coming against Kagiso Rabada (two) and Rashid Khan (two).

Earlier, veteran Chahal operated as though he had never been away from elite cricket. Facing a master craftsman who last played at the top level in November 2025, the GT batters, including victims Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, were trapped in his web.

Besides Chahal, pacers Marco Jansen (one for 20) and V. Vyshak (three for 34) did their bit in the first essay as Titans meandered to 162 for six after being asked to bat.

Chahal, introduced by Shreyas in the eighth over, bamboozled the opposition with his bag of tricks.

One such act led to the removal of Gill — the GT captain found Connolly at deep-midwicket after being undone by a change of pace.

While Jansen provided the opening for the host and showed his class at different periods, Vyshak vindicated the think-tank’s decision to play him over left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar.

New or old did not matter to PBKS. All that mattered was a win.

Scoreboard

Gujarat Titans

B. Sai Sudharsan c Shreyas b Jansen 13 (11b, 2×4), Shubman Gill c Connolly b Chahal 39 (27b, 6×4), Jos Buttler c Bartlett b Chahal 38 (33b, 3×4, 2×6), Glenn Phillips c Jansen b Vyshak 25 (17b, 1×4, 1×6), Washington Sundar c Arshdeep b Vyshak 18 (16b, 2×4), Shahrukh Khan c Arshdeep b Vyshak 4 (6b), Rahul Tewatia (not out) 11 (10b, 1×4), Rashid Khan (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-11): 14; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 162.

Fall of wickets

1-37 (Sai Sudharsan, 3.4 overs), 2-83 (Gill, 9.3), 3-119 (Phillips, 13.6), 4-129 (Buttler, 15.4), 5-144 (Washington, 18.1), 6-150 (Shahrukh, 18.6).

Kings bowling

Arshdeep 4-0-42-0, Bartlett 4-0-36-0, Jansen 4-0-20-1, Vyshak 4-0-34-3, Chahal 4-0-28-2.

Punjab Kings

Priyansh Arya (Impact Player for Chahal) c Ashok b Rabada 7 (8b, 1×6), Prabhsimran Singh c Prasidh b Rashid 37 (24b, 1×4, 4×6), Cooper Connolly (not out) 72 (44b, 5×4, 5×6), Shreyas Iyer c Washington b Prasidh 18 (11b, 2×6), Nehal Wadhera c Gill b Washington 3 (6b), Shashank Singh c Buttler b Prasidh 4 (5b), Marcus Stoinis c Rashid b Prasidh 0 (2b), Marco Jansen c Gill b Ashok 9 (10b, 1×6), Xavier Bartlett (not out) 11 (5b, 1×6); Extras (w-4): 4; Total (for seven wkts. in 19.1 overs): 165.

Fall of wickets

1-7 (Priyansh, 1.2), 2-83 (Prabhsimran, 9.3), 3-110 (Shreyas, 12.1), 4-113 (Wadhera, 13.1), 5-118 (Shashank, 14.2), 6-118 (Stoinis, 14.4), 7-144 (Jansen, 17.4).

TITANS BOWLING

Siraj 2-0-15-0, Rabada 3-0-34-1, Ashok 3-0-31-1, Rashid 4-0-29-1, Washington 3.1-0-27-1, Prasidh (Impact Player for Shahrukh) 4-0-29-3.

Toss: Kings; PoM: Connolly.

PBKS won by three wickets with five balls to spare.

Punjab Kings 86 for two

Kings were 86 for two after 10 overs with Connolly (38) and Shreyas (3) at the crease. Priyansh (7) and Prabhsimran (37) were back in the dugout. Rabada and Rashid took the wickets

Published – March 31, 2026 07:57 pm IST

Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer during the practice session ahead of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. File
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Gujarat Titans bowler Sai Kishore celebrates after taking a wicket during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on April 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

In the battle of shaky top orders, Rahul Tewatia’s rearguard action took Gujarat Titans over the line by three wickets against Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

Though a 143-run target was just what the under-fire Titans batting line-up would have wished for, poor shot selection helped Punjab claw back and give the Shubman Gill-led side a scare.

At the 16-over mark, the visitor still needed 38 runs to win with the last recognised batting pair, Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan, at the crease. The former survived a close lbw shout in the following over, attempting a perilous reverse-sweep off Harpreet Brar.

He backed himself and reprised the shot two deliveries later, fetching a boundary on this occasion. That opened the floodgates as 27 runs came off the next nine balls, with Kagiso Rabada’s over, 18th of the innings, going for 20 runs.

Though Harshal Patel gave the crowd some cheer with two wickets in the 19th over with a yorker and a full toss, it wasn’t enough for Punjab to avoid its fourth consecutive defeat at home.

Earlier, it was a familiar script for Punjab as Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma stood at the burning deck, with their team floundering at 86 for five.

Unfortunately for the host, there was no redemption this time as both batters were back in the dugout in a span of three overs, deceived in flight by left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore.

With the innings tottering at 99 for seven, it fell upon Impact Player Harpreet Singh Bhatia and No. 9 Harpreet Brar to drag the host to 142.

After electing to bat, Punjab’s top order flattered to deceive as Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh put on the team’s second 50-run opening partnership of the season but were soon watching the proceedings from the sidelines.

Prabhsimran, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma succumbed to a rush of blood to the head, leaving their side in early trouble.

Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan picked seven wickets between them, transcending seamer-friendly conditions and bamboozling the host in its den.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB KINGS: Sam Curran lbw b Rashid 20 (19b, 2×4), Prabhsimran Singh c Saha b Mohit 35 (21b, 3×4, 3×6), Rilee Rossouw lbw b Noor 9 (7b, 2×4), Jitesh Sharma b Sai Kishore 13 (12b, 1×6), Liam Livingstone c Tewatia b Noor 6 (9b, 1×4), Shashank Singh c & b Sai Kishore 8 (12b), Ashutosh Sharma c Mohit b Sai Kishore 3 (8b), Harpreet Bhatia (Impact Player in place of Prabhsimran) run out 14 (19b), Harpreet Brar c Shahrukh b Sai Kishore 29 (12b, 4×4, 1×6), Harshal Patel c Shahrukh b Mohit 0 (1b), Kagiso Rabada (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-2): 4; Total (in 20 overs): 142.

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-52 (Prabhsimran, 5.3 overs), 2-63 (Rossouw, 6.6), 3-67 (Curran, 7.5), 4-78 (Livingstone, 10.2), 5-86 (Jitesh, 11.4), 6-92 (Ashutosh, 13.5), 7-99 (Shashank, 15.2), 8-139 (Harpreet Brar, 18.6), 9-140 (Harshal, 19.2).

GUJARAT TITANS BOWLING: Omarzai 2-0-13-0, Warrier 1-0-21-0, Mohit 4-0-32-2, Rashid 4-0-15-1, Noor 4-0-20-2, Sai Kishore 4-0-33-4, Shahrukh 1-0-7-0.