Punjab Kings165 for 7 (Connolly 72*, Prabhsimran 37, Prasidh 3-29) beat Gujarat Titans 162 for 6 (Gill 39, Buttler 38, Vyshak 3-34, Chahal 2-28) by three wickets Gujarat Titans (GT) stopped Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their tracks but could not stop them from going over the finish line in New Chandigarh on Tuesday in their IPL 2026 game. Cooper Connolly steered the hosts home in a chase that began authoritatively before taking nervy turns.

Prabhsimran Singh led the initial charge alongside Connolly before Prasidh Krishna initiated a collapse that seemed to derail the chase. But with help from Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett, Connolly took PBKS home with five balls to spare.

Chahal takes out the big guns

Chahal came on with GT well set on 65 for 1 off 7 overs. He bowled slow, and varied his lines against Gill to dismiss him for the fourth time in the IPL. This time, it was a slog sweep that carried to deep midwicket.

There were a couple of near-chances in the 11th over, bowled by Jansen, one a caught-and-bowled off Buttler and then one off Glenn Phillips, who hit an airy four that went just wide of Shreyas Iyer at cover. Chahal returned in the 16th, after a three-over break, with Buttler batting on 38 off 30 and itching for runs. Two dots later, Buttler looked to clear long-on but Bartlett used his height and reach to take an excellent high catch.

Vyshak owns the back half

Vijaykumar Vyshak bowled across phases and found success later in the innings. Buttler and Gill took him on initially, hitting two fours and a six in his first two overs, the sixth and eighth of the GT innings respectively. But he came back and got Phillips to hole out to long-off in the 14th.

He saved the best for the death, bowling slower balls, either into the pitch or pitched right up. The first variant had Washington Sundar caught, cutting to deep point, and the latter had Shahrukh Khan slogging to deep square-leg.

GT’s batters can’t carry on

The pitch seemed flat early on as Gill, B Sai Sudharsan and Buttler started with a flurry of fours. Nine in the first six overs, in fact. There were drives, pulls and flicks, and a gorgeous back-foot punch by Buttler off Vyshak.

The slowdown came in the middle overs, which saw GT make 77 for 3. Buttler faced 14 dots in his 33-ball 38 and Gill, having rocketed to 27 off 15, made just 12 off his last 12 balls.

Phillips got off to a promising start on GT debut, hitting Chahal for a six and a four within his first eight balls at the crease. He missed out on a couple of boundaries because of Jansen’s fielding at long-off. In the end, three of the top-four batters got to 25 but none went past 39.

Connolly, Prabhsimran sizzle

After Kagiso Rabada dismissed Priyansh Arya cheaply, Connolly and Prabhsimran took him on: they hit three sixes in the fourth over, the same as GT’s innings tally.

Connolly then used Ashok Sharma’s pace to carve a length ball over cover point. He then hit two sixes off successive Rashid Khan overs while Prabhsimran did the same off Washington.

However, Prabhsimran couldn’t get going against Rashid. He faced eight balls and scored just two before charging the legspinner and finding Prasidh at long-on. PBKS were 83 for 1 in the tenth over.

Prasidh creates wobble

The momentum didn’t flag with that wicket, as Iyer hit sixes off back-to-back short balls from Ashok. But out of nowhere, Prasidh dismissed the PBKS captain, who chipped a half-volley straight to deep midwicket.

This brought about a burst of T20-style wickets where the field mattered more than the quality of the ball. Nehal Wadhera cut a shortish slower ball straight to cover. Shashank Singh, looking to run the ball to deep third, nicked to the keeper off Prasidh. Marcus Stoinis, off Prasidh again, carved a shortish ball to deep third. PBKS had lost four wickets in the space of 16 balls for eight runs.

Connolly goes deep

At 121 for 6, with PBKS needing 42 off 30, the game was flipping. But Connolly was ice-cool against Rabada. He punished two short balls to bookend the 16th over, the first cut over backward point for four to bring up his fifty and the last one pulled over square leg for six.

The pressure was eased at the other end as Jansen and Bartlett pulled Prasidh for sixes in the 17th and 19th overs respectively. That was where PBKS effectively sealed the game.