Holder, Sudharsan make it three in a row for GT

PBKS brought their never-say-die attitude to Ahmedabad, but after SRH's defeat earlier in the day, this Sunday evening proceeded to consume a second high-flying team of the season. GT restricted PBKS to 163/9, which was modest by their and the season's standards. PBKS experienced a rare blip in their batting. However, GT had to puff and puff until the final over to pass the line thanks to a Washington Sundar six. Chaos, and not the kind that PBKS typically cause to other people. They were forced to accept this. After surviving the streaky top-edge on the first ball, Priyansh Arya ended up slashing the subsequent short ball outside the off-stump toward a deep backward point, where debutant Nishant Sindhu made a sharp catch. Mohammed Siraj got a length delivery, jagged back, cut the batter in half, and took a faint edge to Jos Buttler behind, so Cooper Connolly had to walk off first ball with a review in hand. Meanwhile, bowler-slayer Prabhsimran Singh was being tortured by Kagiso Rabada, who eventually caught him in the sixth over for an unusually high 15 off 14 balls. In the Powerplay, Shreyas Iyer increased PBKS's total to 35/3. Jeremy Holder in the mood to dance and dismiss. He got Nehal Wadhera to hit Buttler behind the stumps with a length ball, and Shreyas hit one into the stumps in the West Indian's next over. PBKS lost five wickets before scoring 50 runs for the first time in their two years of brilliant batting. At halftime in IPL 2026, their 51/5 in ten overs was the fourth-lowest total. A formidable Suryansh Shedge. He struck his first six of the innings off Arshad Khan in the second ball of the thirteenth over. He then pursued left-arm spinner Manav Suthar in the thirteenth over. He helped the team surpass the 100-run mark in 14 overs with three sixes and two fours in a 27-run over. After an over, he scored his first IPL fifty in just 24 deliveries. Actually, almost. Holder bowled a double-wicket over to dismiss Marcus Stoinis and Xavier Bartlett off consecutive deliveries, and Rabada returned to dismiss Shedge. GT gave up just 8, 8, 7, and 8 runs over the final four overs. However, Marco Jansen and Rashid Khan squared off in the final over, with the former scoring a straight six and the latter hitting an inside edge head to the fine leg fence for a four before being run out. Arshdeep Singh made an early substitution for Shubman Gill, but Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler stuck with their shots and got their team to 58/1 at the end of the Powerplay, well ahead of the asking rate. However, there was a distinct lull after Powerplay. In the ninth over, Vijaykumar Vyshak struck out Buttler, putting Sindhu in position No. 4. It was GT's first boundary in 28 balls when he tonked Vyshak for a six over backward square leg. Shreyas Iyer switched to Yuzvendra Chahal after bringing back Marcus Stoinis in an intriguing middle-overs sequence. In order to keep Punjab interested, the Aussie struck out Sindhu in the 12th over. PBKS seemed to avoid unleashing him against left-handed pitchers, swearing by matchups. As Sindhu left, Washington Sundar moved into the middle, and GT unfurled a left-handed pitch after another. Punjab attempted to counter, but the equation remained favorable to the batting team with 61 runs off 42. In the fifteenth over, Chahal gave Sudharsan a few fours, but Vyshak ended his innings. GT started with Rahul Tewatia and Sundar in the middle needing 40 out of 30 shots to win. After a stunning four-run over, Bartlett gave the two batters 36 runs in four overs. With two boundaries off Jansen—one an outside edge to third man boundary and another a trademark shift and scoop over short fine—Sundar eased the pressure that had suddenly built up. Holder was brought in when Tewatia tried to end the over with one more big hit but went straight to the deep square leg fielder. After giving Sundar a four off the first ball of the 18th over from Bartlett, only three of the subsequent five deliveries were taken. PBKS was left with 17 balls to defend from 12 when Arshdeep returned. He continued the fight and nailed his full, wide lengths, causing Holder to make a mistake. Connolly got in the way of the big West Indian as he swung hard toward the middle wicket fence and pouched an excellent diving catch at the fence. Marcus Stoinis started the final over poorly with 11 to defend. The equation had been reduced to just four out of four, but the stadium's tension remained high. That became three out of two. Sundar scooped a full-toss over deep backward square for the only six of the death overs. Stoinis then missed his yorker. On May 6, PBKS travel south to Hyderabad to face SRH, their batting ideology twin. On May 9, GT travel to Jaipur, where they face RR.