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IMAGE: Punjab Kings' Cooper Connolly was calmness personified as he guided his team to a thrilling win over Gujarat Titans on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points

• Cooper Connolly struck an unbeaten 72 on IPL debut to guide Punjab Kings to victory.
• PBKS chased 163 but slipped from 110/2 to 118/6 after Prasidh Krishna’s fiery spell (3/15).
• Late contributions from Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett steadied the chase.
• Connolly hit the winning boundary in the final over to seal a three-wicket win.

A composed unbeaten 72 from Cooper Connolly helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) survive a scary spell from pacer Prasidh Krishna and secure a three-wicket win against Gujarat Titans (GT) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) opener in Mullanpur, Chandigarh on Tuesday.

GT put up 162/6 on the board after being put in to bat first, as skipper Shubman Gill (39 in 27 balls, with six fours) and Jos Buttler (38 in 33 balls, with three fours and two sixes) top-scored for GT.

In their chase of 163, PBKS were going well, and were 110 for 2 at one stage before a spell of good short bowling by Krishna (3/15 in three overs) saw the home team collapse to 118 for 6.

Marco Jansen gave the ball a good tonking before being dismissed for 9 in the 18th over.

Coming in at No 9, Xavier Bartlett then smacked 11 runs off 5 balls, including a six.

With 2 needed off the final over, Connolly hit the winning runs with four through the off side, to give his team a winning start in IPL 2026.

Connolly Player of Match on his IPL debut

Connolly (72 not out in 44 balls, with five fours and five sixes) was named Player of the Match for his outstanding batting on his IPL debut.

'I was just looking forward to play with world-class players. Superb performance from the team,' the 22 year old said at the post-match presentation.

Jansen, Bartlett and Connolly keep calm to take Punjab over the line

IMAGE: Punjab Kings' Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett celebrate after the match. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

On his six-hitting and taking on Rashid Khan, Connolly said: 'That's the first time I played him (Rashid) and I was trying to enjoy. I am more of a tempo player. Working with Ricky has been great. Looking forward to the rest of the tournament.'

Speaking of his brief partnerships with Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett before shutting out the match, Connolly said: 'Not a lot was said, I was pretty relaxed. Marco was calm and so was Xavier.'