Punjab Kings Vs Gujarat Titans Match Scorecard: Full IPL 2026 Breakdown

Cooper Connolly walked out to bat in the second over of a chase against Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada, making his IPL debut. He finished unbeaten on 72, a genuinely rare feat for a first-ever innings.

A month later, the same two teams met again at Ahmedabad. This time, Connolly was dismissed for a first-ball duck, Punjab collapsed to 82/5, and Jason Holder ran through the middle order before Gujarat needed a nervy chase to level the score.

Here’s the real problem most scorecard pages skip: they report both wins as routine results decided by one big innings. What most people miss is that these two matches represent completely opposite outcomes for the exact same players and tracking that reversal tells you far more than either scorecard alone.

Both 2026 Meetings At A Glance

Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans split their two IPL 2026 meetings, with Punjab winning the opener and Gujarat completing a revenge win a month later.

Match	Date	Venue	Result
Match 4	March 31, 2026	Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Mullanpur	Punjab Kings won by 3 wickets
Match 46	May 3, 2026	Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad	Gujarat Titans won by 4 wickets

What people think vs reality: fans assume the head-to-head record settles which team has the edge in this rivalry. Reality before Match 4, these teams were locked at 3-3 across six previous meetings, one of the most evenly balanced rivalries in the IPL. After both 2026 games, Punjab leads 4-3 overall.

Match 4 Full Scorecard: Connolly’s Debut Special

Gujarat Titans batted first at Mullanpur and posted 162/6 in 20 overs. Punjab chased it down, finishing at 165/7 in 19.1 overs to win by 3 wickets.

Match 4 Result Summary

Team	Score	Overs	Result
Gujarat Titans	162/6	20.0	Batted first
Punjab Kings	165/7	19.1	Won by 3 wickets

Punjab Kings Batting Match 4 (Chase)

Batter	Runs	Balls	Dismissal
Priyansh Arya	—	—	Out at 7-1, 1.2 overs
Prabhsimran Singh (wk)	—	—	Out at 83-2, 9.3 overs
Shreyas Iyer (c)	—	—	Out at 110-3
Nehal Wadhera	—	—	Out at 113-4
Marco Jansen	—	—	Out at 144-7, 17.4 overs
Cooper Connolly	72*	44	Not out, Player of the Match
Punjab Kings Total	165/7	19.1 overs	Won by 3 wickets

Gujarat Titans Bowling Match 4

Bowler	Wickets	Runs	Note
Prasidh Krishna	3	29	Best figures, losing cause

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This is where things go wrong for most match reports they call this a “comfortable chase” purely because Punjab won with balls in hand. What they miss: Punjab lost their captain Shreyas Iyer and had slipped to 144/7 by the 17.4-over mark, meaning the chase stayed genuinely uncertain until Connolly closed it out with five balls remaining.

My Bold Take On This Match

Connolly’s unbeaten 72 on debut deserves more recognition than season recaps usually give it. Walking in against Rashid Khan and Rabada, then anchoring an innings through a genuine batting wobble that saw Punjab lose four wickets between 83 and 144, is not a normal first-ever T20 innings. This performance alone should have flagged him as Punjab’s most reliable finisher heading into the rest of the season.

Match 46 Full Scorecard: Gujarat’s Revenge Thriller

At Ahmedabad, Gujarat Titans won the toss and chose to bowl first. Punjab collapsed dramatically inside the first five overs, then clawed back before finishing at 163/9 in 20 overs.

Match 46 Result Summary

Team	Score	Overs	Result
Punjab Kings	163/9	20.0	Batted first
Gujarat Titans	167/6	19.5	Won by 4 wickets

Punjab Kings Batting Match 46

Batter	Runs	Balls	Dismissal
Priyansh Arya	—	—	Out at 2-1, 0.2 overs
Cooper Connolly	0	1	Caught by Buttler off Siraj, 0.3 overs
Prabhsimran Singh	—	—	Out at 35-3, 5.2 overs
Nehal Wadhera	0	6	Caught by Buttler off Holder, 36-4
Shreyas Iyer (c)	19	21	Bowled by Jason Holder, 47-5
Suryansh Shedge	22	17	1 four, 1 six
Marcus Stoinis	20	18	3 fours
Punjab Kings Total	163/9	20.0 overs	All out late

Gujarat Titans Bowling Match 46

Bowler	Wickets	Runs	Note
Jason Holder	4	24	Back-to-back Player of the Match
Mohammed Siraj	1	—	Dismissed Connolly for a duck

What most people miss: Punjab were reduced to 47/5 by the 8.4-over mark, losing Arya, Connolly, Prabhsimran, Wadhera, and captain Iyer inside the first half of their innings. Only a late rally through Shedge and Stoinis, who added crucial runs unbeaten at the halfway stage of that collapse, dragged Punjab to a fighting 163 rather than a genuine embarrassment.

The Turning Point: Holder’s Spell

Jason Holder took 4/24 against Punjab Kings, earning his second Player of the Match award in as many games for Gujarat. This is where things go wrong for most recaps they treat Holder’s figures as a standard bowling performance. What they miss: he specifically dismissed both Wadhera and Iyer during the middle-overs collapse, meaning his spell directly caused the exact top-order damage that defined Punjab’s innings.

The Finish: Washington Sundar’s Six

Chasing 164, Gujarat needed the full 19.5 overs to get there, with Washington Sundar smashing the winning six off Marcus Stoinis in the final over. What people think vs reality: fans assume a 4-wicket win margin with the innings not fully used suggests a comfortable finish. Reality Gujarat’s chase went right down to the wire against Punjab’s own bowling attack, proving the contest stayed alive until the very last moments.

A Second Bold Observation

There’s a pattern worth naming directly: Cooper Connolly went from Player of the Match hero in Match 4 to a first-ball duck in Match 46. That’s not a coincidence Gujarat’s bowlers, having faced him once already, clearly targeted him early with a specific plan, and it worked perfectly. This is exactly the kind of tactical adjustment that separates a good bowling attack from an average one.

The Common Thread Across Both Matches

Looking at both scorecards together reveals a repeating pattern that neither match shows in isolation.

Factor	Match 4	Match 46
Winning team’s chase style	Punjab recovered from a mid-innings wobble at 144/7	Gujarat needed the final over to finish
Standout performer	Cooper Connolly (72* on debut)	Jason Holder (4/24, back-to-back MOTM)
Losing team’s issue	Gujarat’s bowling couldn’t defend 162	Punjab’s top order collapsed to 47/5
Margin	3 wickets, 5 balls remaining	4 wickets, last-over finish

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What most people miss: both matches were genuinely tight contests, but for opposite reasons. Match 4 was close because Punjab nearly blew a winnable chase. Match 46 was close because Punjab nearly avoided total collapse after losing five wickets inside eight overs.

Why Punjab’s Middle Order Is The Real Story Here

Punjab’s batting looked completely different across these two matches. In Match 4, their middle order (Connolly specifically) rescued a shaky chase. In Match 46, that same middle order fell apart entirely, with four wickets lost between overs 5 and 9. This is a common mistake fans make when judging Punjab’s season assuming their batting depth is a fixed strength, when in reality it’s highly dependent on which bowlers they’re facing and how early those bowlers strike.

What Both Franchises Should Actually Track Going Forward

These two matches expose clear, fixable patterns for both teams heading into the rest of the season. What should analysts and fans actually do with this information?

• Watch Punjab’s top five against genuine pace threats like Siraj and Holder, since both bowlers exploited the exact same batting order twice within weeks
• Track Cooper Connolly’s role specifically, since he swung from match-winning hero to first-ball dismissal against a bowling attack that had scouted him once already
• Follow Jason Holder’s recent form closely, since consecutive Player of the Match awards against the same opponent signal he has genuinely cracked Punjab’s batting lineup
• Note Gujarat’s Powerplay bowling plans in upcoming matches, since striking early against Punjab’s top order proved to be the single most effective strategy across both games

For Punjab Kings specifically, the practical decision is clear: rework the batting order or add genuine depth against left-arm pace and tall seam bowlers like Holder, since the exact same collapse pattern nearly cost them twice against Gujarat this season.

The Bigger Picture Heading Into Their Next Meeting

Beyond these two results, this rivalry has now shown a clear tactical lesson for both sides. Gujarat’s bowlers found a repeatable way to dismantle Punjab’s top order once they studied Match 4 closely. Punjab, in turn, still has genuine finishing depth through players like Shedge and Stoinis who can drag a poor start toward a defendable total. Whichever team adjusts faster before their next encounter will likely hold the tactical edge.

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