It was a strong win for Punjab Kings against Gujarat Titans and what was a very good innings from young Australian, Cooper Connolly. It was a fluent knock from the 22 year old, he finished not out on 72 from 44 balls and guided Punjab to their total in an exciting match.

 

It was crucial support to Prabhsimran Singh and captain Shreyas Iyer; all three combined for 11 sixes and dragged Punjab to 165/7 chasing 163 as the bowlers did their bit earlier in restricting Gujarat Titans to 162/6 from 20 overs.

 

Connolly Takes Center Stage

 

Connolly came in early after Priyansh Arya was dismissed second ball to Kagiso Rabada and put on a massive 76 partnership with Prabhsimran Singh who made a 34 before he ran himself out. The pair ensured Punjab would not be far away as they provided a solid start in the power play. Connolly went on to bring up his maiden IPL fifty in just 34 balls and hit five boundaries, and five sixes. He hit more sixes than the entire Gujarat team who were restricted to just 3.

 

"Some of the shots that he played were surreal to watch," said PBKS captain, Shreyas Iyer.

 

Once Prabhsimran was out caught off the bowling of Rashid Khan, wickets began to fall quickly and Gujarat spinner, Prasidh Krishna inspired a collapse in the PBKS order with three wickets for 29. Rashid Khan and Washington Sundar also grabbed a single wicket each but despite wickets falling, Connolly remained poised and added 26 runs with Marco Jansen before finishing the match with 11 not out from Xavier Bartlett who chipped in with an excellent 11.

 

"To put on a show was nice, but it was a team effort," Connolly stated when picking up Player of the Match.

 

PBKS Bowlers Restricts Gujarat Titans to 162

 

It was not a bad start by the Gujarat Titans as captain, Shubman Gill hit 39 from 27 deliveries and opener Jos Buttler took his opportunity making 38 from 33 and adding a handy 25 for Glenn Phillips. The mid-lower order could not quite keep the momentum and lost wickets consistently, they would fail to build momentum in the final 5 or 6 overs.

 

GT captain Shubman Gill admitted: 

 

 "We didn't get going in the last five or six overs, it wasn't a 200 wicket but if we had 175 it would have been different but we kept losing wickets and we could not get going in the last five or six overs."

 

Vijaykumar Vyshak took 3 for 34, Yuzvendra Chahal with 2 for 28 and the tight Marco Jansen 1 for 20 to cap off a brilliant performance from the Punjab King's bowlers. PBKS were able to track down the total with relative control and seal a convincing victory as Cooper Connolly delivered a match winning performance.