Cooper Connolly (Image: IPL) Debutant Cooper Connolly announced himself in style and scored a brilliant maiden half-century to lead Punjab Kings to a thrilling three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2026 encounter at the PCA New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Tuesday.Chasing 163, Punjab Kings suffered an early blow when impact player Priyansh Arya fell for 7 in the second over through Kagiso Rabada. However, Prabhsimran Singh quickly changed the momentum with an aggressive counter-attack and smashed Rabada’s back sixes. Connolly joined the attack and the duo boosted PBKS to 55/1 at the end of the over. They put together a decisive 76-run stand for the second wicket, putting the chase on track.
GT Fight Back, Connolly holds his nerve
Rashid Khan broke the partnership in the 10th over, dismissing Prabhsimran for a quickfire 37. Captain Shreyas Iyer kept the pace going with a couple of sixes but was removed by Prasidh Krishna in the 13th over. Gujarat Titans then staged a strong comeback and picked up wickets in bunches as Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis departed in quick succession.Despite collapsing at the other end, Connolly kept his composure to get his maiden IPL fifty off just 34 balls. The 22-year-old remained unbeaten on 72 off 44 deliveries, hitting five fours and five sixes to guide Punjab home alongside Xavier Bartlett (11*) with five balls to spare.For Gujarat Titans, Prasidh Krishna was the outstanding bowler with figures of 3/29 while Rabada, Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar and Ashok Sharma took a wicket each.Earlier, Punjab Kings produced a disciplined bowling effort to restrict Gujarat Titans to 162/6. Vijaykumar Vyshak played with the ball and claimed three wickets while Yuzvendra Chahal took two.Gujarat got off to a flying start with Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan racing to 35/0 in just three overs. However, Marco Jansen provided the first breakthrough by dismissing Sudharsan for 13. Gill then anchored the innings alongside Jose Buttler to help GT reach 54/1 at the end of the powerplay.Gill slowed down after an aggressive start before being dismissed by Chahal for 39 in the 10th over. Glenn Phillips added a quick 25 but fell to Vyshak while Buttler top-scored with 38 before being dismissed by Chahal in the 16th over. Washington Sundar looked to pick up the pace and managed 18 runs in the innings.Vyshak finished with impressive figures of 3/34 while Chahal’s 2/28 ensured that Gujarat Titans were kept at bay despite their strong start.
Quick Score:
Gujarat Titans 162/6 (Shubman Gill 39, Jos Buttler 38; Vijaykumar Vyshak 3/34, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/28)Punjab Kings 165/7 (Cooper Connolly 72*, Prabhsimran Singh 37; Prasidh Krishna 3/29)Punjab Kings won by 3 wickets.
