Chandigarh, April 1: Punjab Kings have kicked off their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign with a victory. The team secured a win against Gujarat Titans by 3 wickets in a match held at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday. Cooper Connolly played a spectacular innings, scoring an unbeaten 72 runs off 44 balls.

After losing the toss and being put to bat, Gujarat Titans managed to score 162 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Sai Sudharsan partnered with captain Shubman Gill to add 37 runs for the first wicket in just 3.4 overs. Sudharsan was dismissed for 13 runs, after which Gill contributed 39 runs off 27 balls, hitting 6 fours, in a partnership of 46 runs with Jos Buttler for the second wicket.

Buttler scored 38 runs, while Glenn Phillips added 25 runs, helping the team reach a respectable total. Washington Sundar chipped in with 18 runs. Vijaykumar Vaishak was the standout bowler for the Titans, claiming 3 wickets, while Yuzvendra Chahal took 2 wickets and Marco Jansen secured 1 wicket.

In response, Punjab Kings chased down the target in 19.1 overs. They lost Priyansh Arya for 7 runs early on but Connolly formed a crucial partnership of 76 runs with Prabhsimran Singh for the second wicket, taking the score to 83. Prabhsimran scored 37 runs off 24 balls, including 4 sixes and 1 four.

Connolly continued to anchor the innings, adding 27 runs with captain Shreyas Iyer (18) for the third wicket. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Connolly remained steadfast, finishing with 72 runs, including 5 sixes and as many fours. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers for the Titans with 3 wickets, while Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Rashid Khan, and Washington Sundar each took 1 wicket.

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Agency

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