New IPL season. New Chandigarh. And a brand new child on the block.
Cooper Connolly introduced himself on the IPL stage on the very first try, regaling the house crowd with a belligerent, unbeaten 72 (44b, 5×4, 5×6) on the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium right here on Tuesday.
The younger Australian’s debut heroics, coupled with a nice bowling present, led by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (two for 28), propelled Punjab Kings to a nervy three-wicket overcome Gujarat Titans.
Pursuing 163 to get off the mark within the nineteenth version, PBKS seemed to be coasting to the goal when Connolly and Prabhsimran Singh (37, 24b, 1×4, 4×6) mixed for a 76-run second-wicket alliance. However GT raised hopes of an unbelievable fightback with a flurry of wickets (83 for one to 118 for six), together with 4 within the blink of an eye fixed.
Connolly, nevertheless, had the ultimate say as he prevented the Shreyas Iyer-led aspect from committing harakiri — 5 balls had been left within the financial institution when the 22-year-old accomplished the chase in type with a boundary off Washington Sundar.
The southpaw went after a number of the greatest within the enterprise, with 4 of his 5 maximums coming in opposition to Kagiso Rabada (two) and Rashid Khan (two).
Earlier, veteran Chahal operated as if he had by no means been away from elite cricket. Going through a grasp craftsman who final performed on the high stage in November 2025, the GT batters, together with victims Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, had been trapped in his net.
In addition to Chahal, pacers Marco Jansen (one for 20) and Vyshak Vijaykumar (three for 34) did their bit within the first essay, as Titans meandered to 162 for six after being requested to bat.
Chahal, launched by Shreyas within the eighth over, bamboozled the opposition together with his bag of methods. One such act led to the elimination of Gill — the GT captain discovered Connolly at deep-midwicket after being undone by a change of tempo.
Whereas Jansen offered the opening for the host and confirmed his class at totally different intervals, Vyshak vindicated the think-tank’s choice to play him over left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar.
New or previous didn’t matter to PBKS. All that mattered was a win.
Printed on Mar 31, 2026