Cooper Connolly picked a hell of a night to announce himself. The 22-year-old Australian walked out at the PCA New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh and played like he'd been doing this for years, belting an unbeaten 72 off just 44 balls to drag Punjab Kings across the line in a nervy chase of 163 against Gujarat Titans.
Punjab's innings was a rollercoaster. Prabhsimran Singh got things rolling with a blistering 37, combining with Connolly for a 76-run second-wicket stand that had the home crowd buzzing. But Gujarat hit back hard through Rashid Khan and Prasidh Krishna, who finished with superb figures of 3/29. When Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, and Marcus Stoinis all fell in a heap, PBKS were staring down the barrel at 140-odd for seven.
Connolly refused to blink. Five fours, five sixes — the debutant played with ice in his veins while wickets tumbled around him. Xavier Bartlett chipped in with a handy unbeaten 11, and the pair got Punjab home with five balls to spare. It was a match-winning knock of rare maturity from a player making his first appearance on the biggest T20 stage in the world.
Earlier, Vijaykumar Vyshak's three-wicket haul and two strikes from Yuzvendra Chahal kept Gujarat pegged at 162/6 despite a rapid start from Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, who raced to 35 without loss inside three overs. Marco Jansen's timely removal of Sudharsan slowed the charge, and Punjab's bowlers squeezed hard through the middle overs to set up what turned out to be a memorable chase.
