Punjab Kings, riding on Priyansh and Cooper’s knocks, lord it over Lucknow Super Giants

Mohammad Shami struck with the third ball of the game but thereafter nothing went right for Lucknow Super Giants as Punjab Kings romped to yet another thumping victory in the IPL 2026 at the New International Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh on Sunday night.

Chasing a mammoth 255 for victory, Lucknow Super Giants began well with openers Mitchell Marsh (40) and Ayush Badoni (35) adding 61 in six overs. But the pressure kept on mounting and the Lucknow batters were unable to keep up with the asking rate.

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Skipper Rishabh Pant made a 23-ball 43 and then Aiden Markram (42) tried to up the ante, but the mountain was too high for them to climb.

Lucknow ended up with 200 for five and handed out a 54-run win to Punjab Kings. The Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab remain the only unbeaten team in IPL 2026 thus far. They are on top of the table with 11 points as they have won five games out of six with a no-result. Lucknow are placed eighth.

“There’s a lot of planning from the coaches and video analysts. Without them backing me, it’d be tough. Last two games didn’t go well. Prince bowled well, took cues from him. Backed yorkers and slower ones. The way our batters played, it was something to watch out for. Every ball looked like it’ll go for six. Video analysts said length ball doesn’t do well here, so went shorter. The approach is the same, whatever is the situation and how many ever overs I bowl I want to do well,” said Punjab Kings’ Vyshak Vijaykumar.

Priyansh Arya was at his best as he struck nine sixes and four boundaries in his 37-ball 93. Arya and Cooper Connolly added 182 off 80 balls for the second wicket which sealed the issue in Punjab’s favour

Earlier, Punjab Kings were all over the Lucknow attack. After Shami removed Prabhsimran Singh for a duck, Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly took over and punished the Lucknow attack.

Runs flowed in torrents from the blades of Punjab batters. Arya, in particular, was at his best as he struck nine sixes and four boundaries in his 37-ball 93.

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Connolly too made merry in Arya’s company with an 87 which came off 46 balls with eight fours and seven sixes. The duo added a whopping 182 off just 80 balls for the second wicket which more or less decimated the Lucknow bowling.

The Punjab batters scored 63 for one in the Powerplay and there was no stepping off the accelerator. They got 133 while losing three wickets in the middle overs. They were no less severe at the death as they garnered 58 while losing three wickets.

Punjab scored 190 runs in boundaries

Punjab scored 21 sixes and 16 fours as they got 190 runs in boundaries. Such was their dominance on the day. Punjab ended up with 254 for seven.

Cooper Connolly made merry in Arya’s company with an 87 which came off 46 balls with eight fours and seven sixes. Pics: BCCI

Lucknow’s Prince Yadav deserves a word of praise for surviving the carnage. Prince took two for 25 and more importantly had an economy rate of 6.25 where Punjab’s run rate was 12.70.

“It’s difficult to point out one area, bowlers have done well. There have been areas of concern, some positivity with the batting. (On Badoni opening the innings) The idea was to go out and play freely. It was pre-decided, not a decision taken today. Tried to take the pressure off the top order. We believe in the team, but credit to PBKS for playing good, hard cricket,” said Lucknow skipper Pant.

Brief scores: Punjab Kings 254 for seven in 20 overs (Priyansh Arya 93, Cooper Connolly 87, Marcus Stoinis 29; Prince Yadav 2/25, M Siddharth 2/35) beat Lucknow Super Giants 200 for five in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 40, Ayush Badoni 35, Rishabh Pant 43, Aiden Markram 42, Mukul Choudhary 21 not out; Marco Jansen 2/37).