Connolly's unbeaten 72 on debut steers Punjab Kings past Gujarat Titans
Punjab Kings needed someone to stick around when everything was falling apart. They found that person in a 22-year-old Australian making his first appearance in the IPL.
Cooper Connolly scored an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls to drag his side over the line with five balls to spare, chasing 163 after Gujarat Titans posted 162 for six at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.
Chahal and Vyshak squeeze Gujarat's middle overs
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and sent Gujarat in. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan put on a brisk start, racing to 35 in three overs before Marco Jansen removed Sudharsan for 13 in the fourth, caught at mid-off by Iyer himself.
Gill and Jos Buttler rebuilt with a 46-run stand before Yuzvendra Chahal got the better of the Titans captain. Chahal floated one slower through the air and Gill, who had made 39 off 27, holed out to deep midwicket. Glenn Phillips cracked a six off Chahal but did not last long, falling to Vijaykumar Vyshak for a brief cameo.
Buttler made 38 off 33 before Chahal struck again, and the innings never recovered from there. Vyshak finished with three for 34, Chahal two for 26, and Jansen an economical one for 20 off his four overs.
Connolly and Prabhsimran build, then the collapse hits
Priyansh Arya fell early in the chase to Kagiso Rabada, bringing Connolly to the crease with everything still to prove. He and Prabhsimran Singh put on 76 for the second wicket, mixing clean hitting with smart running to tilt the match firmly Punjab's way.
Then Rashid Khan dismissed Prabhsimran for 37, and the wheels came off. Iyer, Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh departed in quick succession as Punjab lost four wickets for just eight runs. Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar did the damage as the score slumped to 121 for six after 15 overs.
Connolly watched it all unfold from the other end. He had already passed fifty off 34 balls, and now he had to do the rest largely on his own.
The Australian who refused to blink
He did exactly that. Working the gaps, picking the right balls to attack, and keeping the required rate in check, Connolly brought up his unbeaten 72 and saw his side home with five balls left. It was the kind of innings that announces a player in a new competition without any need for introduction.
Connolly captained Australia at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, made his Test debut in Sri Lanka in February 2025, and was bought by Punjab Kings for three crore at the auction. On the evidence of this knock, the franchise got themselves a bargain.
Punjab and Gujarat head into the next round of fixtures level on form but with very different moods. One side has a new hero. The other has questions about a batting lineup that managed just 162 on a good surface.
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