Punjab Kings Vs Gujarat Titans Match Scorecard: Debutant Connolly’s 72* Steals the Show

Punjab Kings beat Gujarat Titans by 3 wickets in IPL 2026 Match 4 at Ahmedabad, chasing 163 in a nervy finish. Debutant Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 72 off 49 balls guided PBKS home with five balls to spare, surviving a mid-innings collapse from 110/2 to 118/6.

If you’re hunting for the complete Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans match scorecard, this breakdown covers everything from the toss to the final ball, plus the exact moment the game nearly slipped away from Punjab.

When a Debut Turns Into a Statement

There’s something special about watching a player announce himself on the biggest stage without seeming remotely fazed by it. That’s exactly what happened at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium when Cooper Connolly, playing his first-ever IPL match, walked out with Punjab Kings still finding their feet in the chase.

Gujarat Titans had posted a competitive 162/6, built on contributions across the order rather than one standout knock. Punjab’s chase wobbled early, steadied through the middle, and then wobbled again in the closing stages before Connolly calmly closed it out.

By the time the winning runs came, Connolly was unbeaten on 72, Punjab had won by 3 wickets, and a debutant had just delivered one of the most composed finishing performances of IPL 2026 so far. This PBKS vs GT highlights package is one every fan of tense finishes will want to revisit.espn+1

Quick Answer: PBKS vs GT Match Result

Match: Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans, IPL 2026, Match 4, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, March 31, 2026

Toss: Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to field first

Gujarat Titans score: 162/6 in 20 overs

Punjab Kings score: 165/7 in 19.1 overs

Result: Punjab Kings won by 3 wickets

Player of the Match: Cooper Connolly, unbeaten 72 off 49 balls

Match Story: How Punjab Survived a Nervy Chase

Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to field first, backing their bowling attack to restrict Gujarat’s dangerous top order on a fresh Ahmedabad surface. Gujarat’s innings began steadily, with Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill putting on 37 for the first wicket before Marco Jansen removed Sudharsan for 13, caught behind after the ball turned in his hand.

Gill continued to build, reaching 37 off 27 balls before he holed out in the deep, unable to clear the man at midwicket. Jos Buttler then took charge briefly, striking 46 off 23 balls before a leaping catch at the boundary ended his innings.

Gujarat kept losing wickets at regular intervals through the middle overs, but Ravichandran Tewatia’s unbeaten 11 at the death helped GT close out at a defendable 162/6.

Punjab’s reply began with early trouble. Priyansh Arya fell for just 7 in the second over, top-edging a short ball to a diving fielder. Prabhsimran Singh and Cooper Connolly then rebuilt with a crucial 76-run stand for the second wicket, with Connolly’s fifty arriving off just 34 balls, laced with three fours and four sixes.

Then came the wobble that nearly cost Punjab the match. Prabhsimran, Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, and Marcus Stoinis all fell in a rapid collapse between the 9th and 15th overs, with Punjab suddenly finding themselves at 118/6 and staring at an unlikely defeat. Through all of it, Connolly stood firm, farming the strike and picking his moments, eventually guiding Punjab home with an unbeaten 72 as PBKS finished on 165/7 in 19.1 overs.

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Match Timeline: Ball-by-Ball Turning Points

Powerplay Analysis (Overs 1-6, Both Innings)

• Gujarat’s powerplay saw Sudharsan and Gill add 37 before the first wicket fell, a solid platform for the innings
• Punjab’s own powerplay started disastrously Priyansh Arya fell for 7 in the second over, but Prabhsimran and Connolly steadied things before the sixth over ended

Middle Overs Analysis (Overs 7-15, Both Innings)

• Gujarat’s middle overs saw Buttler’s rapid 46 followed by a cluster of quick wickets, as Phillips, Sundar, and Shahrukh Khan all fell cheaply against Vyshak and Jansen
• Punjab’s middle overs told two stories: first, the Prabhsimran-Connolly stand pushed the score to 110/2, then disaster struck as five wickets fell for just 8 runs between the 9th and 15th overs

Death Overs Analysis (Overs 16-20, Both Innings)

• Gujarat’s death overs belonged to Tewatia, whose unbeaten cameo lifted the total from a modest position to a defendable 162/6
• Punjab’s death overs were pure nerve Connolly and Jansen added 26 runs for the seventh wicket, closing out the chase with five balls in hand

Full Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans Match Scorecard

Gujarat Titans Innings 162/6 (20 overs)

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Sai Sudharsan	c Iyer b Jansen	13	11	1	0	118.18
Shubman Gill	c Connolly b Chahal	37	27	4	0	137.03
Jos Buttler	c Bartlett b Vyshak	46	23	6	2	200.00
Glenn Phillips	c fielder b Jansen	18	16	2	0	112.50
Washington Sundar	c Arshdeep b Vyshak	4	6	0	0	66.67
M Shahrukh Khan	c Arshdeep b Vyshak	5	4	0	0	125.00
Ravichandran Tewatia	not out	11	8	1	0	137.50

Extras: 14

Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Sudharsan), 2-83 (Gill), 3-119 (Phillips), 4-129 (Buttler), 5-144 (Sundar), 6-150 (Shahrukh Khan)

Punjab Kings Bowling Figures

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy
Arshdeep Singh	4.0	42	0	10.50
X.C. Bartlett	4.0	36	0	9.00
Marco Jansen	4.0	20	2	5.00
V. Vyshak	4.0	34	3	8.50
Yuzvendra Chahal	4.0	28	1	7.00

Source:

Punjab Kings Innings 165/7 (19.1 overs)

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Priyansh Arya	caught	7	3	1	0	233.33
Prabhsimran Singh	caught	37	24	4	3	154.16
Cooper Connolly	not out	72	49	5	5	146.93
Shreyas Iyer	caught	18	11	4	0	163.63
Nehal Wadhera	caught	3	3	0	0	100.00
Shashank Singh	caught	4	4	0	0	100.00
Marcus Stoinis	caught	0	1	0	0	0.00
Marco Jansen	caught	9	8	1	0	112.50

Extras: 4

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Arya), 2-83 (Prabhsimran Singh), 3-110 (Iyer), 4-113 (Wadhera), 5-118 (Shashank Singh), 6-118 (Stoinis), 7-144 (Jansen)

Gujarat Titans Bowling Figures

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy
Mohammed Siraj	2.0	15	0	7.50
Kagiso Rabada	3.0	34	1	11.33
Ashok Sharma	3.0	31	1	10.33
Rashid Khan	4.0	29	1	7.25
Washington Sundar	3.1	27	1	8.52
M. Prasidh Krishna	4.0	29	3	7.25

Source:

Key Highlights from the Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans Clash

• Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to field first at Ahmedabad
• Gujarat Titans posted 162/6, with contributions from Gill (37), Buttler (46), and Tewatia’s late cameo
• Vyshak’s 3-for restricted GT to a chaseable total
• Priyansh Arya fell for just 7 in the second over of Punjab’s chase
• The 76-run second-wicket stand between Prabhsimran and Connolly steadied the innings
• Punjab collapsed to 118/6, losing five wickets between the 9th and 15th overs
• Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 72 off 49 balls, on IPL debut, sealed a 3-wicket win with five balls to spare

Winning Strategy Breakdown

Punjab’s team management made one decisive call that shaped this entire match: trusting a debutant to anchor a genuinely tense chase rather than reshuffling the batting order once the collapse began. That faith paid off directly, because Connolly’s game plan was simple absorb the good balls, target anything short or wide, and never let the required rate dictate his shot selection.

Gujarat’s strategy, meanwhile, revolved around spreading the workload across their bowling attack rather than leaning on one strike bowler. Prasidh Krishna’s three-wicket burst nearly executed that plan perfectly, but Gujarat lacked the extra breakthrough needed to finish the job once Connolly settled back in.

Turning Point: The Middle-Overs Collapse Connolly Survived

The exact moment this match hung in the balance was Punjab’s slide from a comfortable 110/2 to a nervy 118/6 in the space of just five overs, as Iyer, Wadhera, Shashank, and Stoinis all fell cheaply against Gujarat’s varied attack. Prasidh Krishna’s burst in that phase very nearly turned a routine chase into a Gujarat victory.

What makes this turning point so significant is how Connolly responded. Rather than panicking at the other end, the debutant simply absorbed the pressure and waited for bad balls to punish exactly the template needed to survive a collapse without triggering a full batting implosion.

Top Performers and Why They Mattered

• Cooper Connolly (72* off 49): His maiden IPL innings combined patience with calculated aggression, and staying unbeaten through a five-wicket collapse made him the singular reason Punjab won this match
• Jos Buttler (46 off 23): His strike rate of 200 gave Gujarat’s innings the acceleration it needed after a steady start
• M. Prasidh Krishna (3/29 in 4 overs): His middle-overs burst nearly turned the match on its head, dismissing three Punjab batters in one tight spell
• V. Vyshak (3/34 in 4 overs): His three wickets restricted Gujarat to a total Punjab could realistically chase down

Expert Insight and Match Analysis

Looking closely at this full scorecard analysis, the real story isn’t the final margin it’s how fragile Punjab’s win actually was. A team sitting comfortably at 110/2 shouldn’t need a debutant to bail them out from 118/6, and that pattern of middle-order fragility is something Punjab’s coaching staff will want to address quickly.

For Gujarat, the takeaway is almost the opposite problem: their bowlers created enough chances to win this game twice over, but a lack of one banker partnership with the bat left them defending a total that was always slightly below what the pitch demanded.

What This Means for the Points Table

This win gave Punjab Kings an ideal start to their IPL 2026 campaign, opening their account with two points and immediate momentum heading into the rest of the group stage. For Gujarat Titans, the loss was an early setback, though their bowling performance suggested they remain a genuine threat once their batting order finds more consistency.

Interestingly, when these two sides met again later in the season at the same Ahmedabad venue, Gujarat turned the tables convincingly, chasing down 164 with one ball to spare a reminder of how tightly matched this rivalry has become.

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Pitch Report and Conditions

The Narendra Modi Stadium surface offered good pace and carry early, evident in the wickets that fell inside the powerplay for both sides, before flattening out in the middle overs. Both innings crossed 160, suggesting a fair, well-balanced track that rewarded disciplined batting over pure aggression.

Punjab’s bowlers used the surface’s bounce effectively at the death, particularly Vyshak’s cutters, which proved difficult for Gujarat’s finishers to control in the closing overs.

Fan Interest: What This Debut Means Going Forward

Cricket fans watching this game got a glimpse of something rare a completely composed IPL debut under real pressure, and Connolly’s calm, headline-grabbing knock is likely to earn him a firm place in Punjab’s middle order for the rest of the season. For Gujarat supporters, the frustration centers on how close their bowlers came to pulling off an unlikely win, only for one player’s poise to deny them.

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