Punjab Kings got off to a brilliant start in IPL 2026 as they defeated Gujarat Titans in their opening game by three wickets at Mullanpur in New Chandigarh. However, their skipper, Shreyas Iyer, has been fined despite being on the winning side due to the poor over-rate of PBKS. Iyer has been fined a massive amount of Rs 12 lakh, even as he became the first captain to face the action for breaching the code of conduct.
After opting to bowl first, Punjab Kings took almost two hours to complete their 20 overs. They were also penalised before the last over of the innings as the timer had run out. Accordingly, they had to bring one fielder inside the 30-yard circle which meant that there were only four fielders allowed manning the boundary.
To make things worse, Arshdeep Singh bowled 11 deliveries in the final over as he bowled four wides and one no-ball, conceding 12 runs in the over. It also turned out to be the joint-longest over in IPL history. There are a total of six instances now in IPL where 11 deliveries have been bowled in a single over.ย
Longest over bowled in IPL (in balls)
11 – Mohd. Siraj vs MI, Bengaluru, 2023 (Over 19)
11 – Tushar Deshpande vs LSG, Chennai, 2023 (Over 4)
11 – Shardul Thakur vs KKR, Kolkata, 2025 (Over 13)
11 – Sandeep Sharma vs DC, Delhi, 2025 (Over 20)
11 – Hardik Pandya vs GT, Wankhede, 2025 (Over 8)
11 – Arshdeep Singh vs GT, Mullanpur, 2026 (Over 20)*
Cooper Connolly stars in nervy chase for Punjab Kings
As far as the match is concerned, Punjab Kings chased down 163 runs in the final over to win the match by three wickets. Cooper Connolly remained unbeaten on 72 off just 44 balls with five fours and as many sixes to win the player of the match award on debut. Apart from him, Prabhsimran Singh also did well, scoring 37 runs off 24 balls. Earlier, PBKS did well to restrict the Titans to just 162 runs with Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yuzvendra Chahal sharing five wickets between them.
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