Collective bowling effort and Cooper Connolly helped Punjab Kings prevail over Gujarat Titans by three wickets in their IPL 2026 opener in Mullanpur on Tuesday.
Marco Jansen (1/20), senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/28) and Karnataka quick Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/34) maintained their lengths for a good part of the Titans innings, restricting them to 162/6, after the Kings opted to bowl first.
What also stood out was Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, especially in his bowling changes and field placings for Punjab Kings, last year’s finalists. Shreyas had to be diligent in getting Jansen and Chahal on to bowl, and he ensured he brought on both the bowlers at the right time.
Thereafter, despite losing opener and Impact Player Priyansh Arya off Kagiso Rabada early in the second over of the run chase, No.3 Connolly (unbeaten 72 off 44 balls) and Prabhsimran Singh kept the Titans’ attack at bay with a 76-run second-wicket stand.
However, the Titans’ Impact Player Prasidh Krishna did give some hope with the scalps of Shreyas — who was also hit on the back of his right palm off a Connolly shot and had it bandaged later — Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis, as the Kings slipped to 118/6 in the 15th over from a commanding 110/2 in the 13th.
Like Shreyas, Titans captain Gill too had his fielders perfectly placed. But maybe he could have brought Prasidh earlier into the attack and given at least one more over to Mohammed Siraj.
Nonetheless, credit has to go to IPL debutant Connolly for not blinking under pressure and ensuring his concentration didn’t waver despite a continuous drizzle. The left-hander remained calm right through to help the Kings survive the scare and seal the game with five balls to spare.
Accuracy
Earlier, Gill began in a fluent manner, hitting three crunching boundaries in the second over from Xavier Bartlett to set the ball rolling for his side. Sai Sudharsan complemented the skipper with his set of strokes, till Jansen bowled the length that had the left-hander in a tangle and perish at mid-off, giving Shreyas catching practice.
Jansen’s accuracy made a big difference, as the Titans could manage just a lone boundary off his four overs.
Chahal, too, wasn’t far behind, dismissing Gill and a struggling Buttler to apply the brakes on the Titans’ progress. Gill wasn’t finding it too easy to pick Chahal, before holing at the deep attempting a slog sweep. Buttler too couldn’t put Chahal away.
As for Vyshak, he varied his pace to strike thrice, including the scalp of the dangerous Glenn Phillips.