Punjab Kings defeated Gujarat Titans by three wickets thanks to a magnificent unbeaten fifty from Cooper Connolly in their Indian Premier League (IPL) opening game on Tuesday in Mullanpur.
After PBKS decided to bowl, Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/34), Yuzvendra Chahal (2/28), and Marco Jansen (1/20) shared the wickets as they bowled with discipline, limiting the former champions GT to 162/6.
Connolly (72 not out off 44 balls) was the leading scorer as PBKS reached the target in 19.1 overs in response. Among GT’s wicket-takers were Prasidh Krishna (3/29), Rashid Khan (1/29), and Washington Sundar (1/27).
Earlier, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal used his years of expertise to help Punjab Kings stall Gujarat Titans in the middle overs and restrict them to 162/6 on a solid batting surface. Seamer Vijaykumar Vyshak finished with 3/34, while Chahal finished with 2/28 in four overs.
The two main contributors to GT’s lackluster batting performance were captain Shubman Gill (39 off 27 deliveries) and Jos Buttler (38 off 33 balls). Sent in to bat first, Gill hit boundaries as the team quickly reached 35 in three overs.
Shreyas Iyer, the captain of PBKS, had to make a bowling change and add the tall Marco Jansen (1/20 in 4 overs) to the attack after Gill appeared to be in perfect touch as he picked the gaps at will to score at a good pace. The strategy immediately paid off when left-arm pacer Jansen got Sai Sudharsan (13) to slice one straight towards mid-off, where Shreyas finished a straightforward catch.
Jos Butter arrived at the crease as a result, and the Englishman, who had just had a poor T20 World Cup campaign, got off to a great start by stroking Vyshak Vijaykumar past cover for a boundary. The shot gave the batter a lot of confidence going ahead.
Buttler hit the opening six of the match when he lofted Vyshak straight down the ground after the seamer failed to put his slower ball in the correct spot. Buttler used the cut shot against a short and wide Jansen delivery to get a four through backward point.
After leaking runs in the first three overs, PBKS somewhat recovered, and GT concluded the powerplay at 54/1.
When Chahal came in to bowl the eighth over, the leg-spinner, who has a solid record against Gill after dismissing the opener three times in prior IPL matches, had his man once more as the batter holed out to deep midwicket after being set up for a significant score.
Gill received the elevation when Chahal bowled one more slowly into the air, but he did not have enough space to clear the rope.
Buttler smoked a short Xavier Bartlett ball over mid-on for a six after new man Glenn Phillips smacked Chahal over long-on for a maximum, as PBKS pulled things back.
