Punjab Kings (PBKS) claimed the scalp of Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets in their opener 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday, March 31. PBKS conducted the toss and opted to bowl first at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur.
GT scored 162/6 in 20 overs, with captain Shubman Gill (39 off 27) and wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler (38 off 33) playing key knocks. But the batters did not go at a strike rate of above 150, and they could not make it count towards the back end.
From the last five overs, Gujarat could at best muster only 34. Pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak took three wickets; veteran leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took two scalps.
As Punjab chased the target, there was some drama as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. But the score was overhauled in just 19.1 overs thanks to Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 72 off 44. The pick of the Gujarat bowlers was Prasidh Krishna with 4-0-29-3.
Here, we highlight three incidents from the game that caught on with fans.
3. Joint-longest over in IPL history was bowled by Arshdeep Singh
In the last over of the GT innings, Arshdeep Singh was all over the place. The left-arm seamer began the over with a wide however bounced again to bowl two back-to-back dot balls.
But after that, it was all downhill for him. On the third delivery, Rahul Tewatia creamed a short ball from the PBKS bowler for a four over short fine-leg. Arshdeep bowled one no-ball and three wide in the remaining delivery.
He bowled an 11-ball over, the joint-longest in the league’s history. It equaled the unwanted record held by Tushar Deshpande, Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Sandeep Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. Arshdeep had a performance to forget in that he did not take any wickets and gave away 42 runs from his four overs.
2. Xavier Bartlett makes a remarkable boundary catch to dismiss Jos Buttler
It was PBKS leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who dented the team breaking a well-set Jos Buttler in the 16th over. The GT batter looked to go big towards long-on on a full ball.
He connected well but the ball seemed to be going over the boundary rope initially. Xavier Bartlett however perfectly timed his jump to pocket a brilliant catch. Buttler getting out at that point was a big reason GT couldn’t end the innings well.
𝗔𝗶𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁! 🚀
🎥 A superbly-timed jump from the @PunjabKingsIPL player to grab a stunner! 🫴
Wicket No. 2⃣ for @yuzi_chahal ☝️
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/75rCxTCOL1#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #PBKSvGT pic.twitter.com/gGxRtVmq5F
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 31, 20263. PBKS new boy Cooper Connolly hits a 103m six off Rashid Khan
Cooper Connolly had a shining IPL debut with the bat. The left-hander hit five sixes and as many fours. He paced his innings beautifully and, in the end, carried the team home.
Even the ace leg-spinner Rashid Khan had no answers to the Australian all-rounder. On the second ball of the eighth over, the GT star dished out a bouncer. Connolly got the length early and clouted a huge 103m six over the long-on fence.
𝟏𝟎𝟑 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐦 🤯
Cooper Connolly rocks back, frees the arms and sends it soaring into the second tier 🚀#TATAIPL 2026 | #PBKSvGT | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/8O2J6XJtcm pic.twitter.com/jXyDDu3Ohs
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 31, 2026
