New IPL season. New Chandigarh. And a new kid on the block.

Cooper Connolly announced himself on the IPL stage at the very first attempt, regaling the home crowd with a belligerent, unbeaten 72 (44b, 5×4, 5×6) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium here on Tuesday.

The young Australian’s debut heroics, coupled with a fine bowling show, led by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (two for 28), propelled Punjab Kings to a nervy three-wicket triumph over Gujarat Titans.

Pursuing 163 to get off the mark in the 19th edition, PBKS appeared to be coasting to the target when Connolly and Prabhsimran Singh (37, 24b, 1×4, 4×6) combined for a 76-run second-wicket alliance. But GT raised hopes of an improbable fightback with a flurry of wickets (83 for one to 118 for six), including four in the blink of an eye.

Connolly, however, had the final say as he prevented the Shreyas Iyer-led side from committing harakiri — five balls were left in the bank when the 22-year-old completed the chase in style with a boundary off Washington Sundar.

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The southpaw went after some of the best in the business, with four of his five maximums coming against Kagiso Rabada (two) and Rashid Khan (two).

Earlier, veteran Chahal operated as though he had never been away from elite cricket. Facing a master craftsman who last played at the top level in November 2025, the GT batters, including victims Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, were trapped in his web.

Besides Chahal, pacers Marco Jansen (one for 20) and Vyshak Vijaykumar (three for 34) did their bit in the first essay, as Titans meandered to 162 for six after being asked to bat.

Chahal, introduced by Shreyas in the eighth over, bamboozled the opposition with his bag of tricks. One such act led to the removal of Gill — the GT captain found Connolly at deep-midwicket after being undone by a change of pace.

While Jansen provided the opening for the host and showed his class at different periods, Vyshak vindicated the think-tank’s decision to play him over left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar.

New or old did not matter to PBKS. All that mattered was a win.

Published on Mar 31, 2026