New Delhi: Cooper Connolly hit an unbeaten half-century as Punjab Kings beat Gujarat Titans by three wickets in the opening match indian premier league Tuesday’s game, but the postgame celebrations also drew attention.video of kings punjab captain Shreyas Iyer‘s sister Shresta Iyer’s bhangra performance went viral on social media, adding heat to PBKS’ thrilling victory.Soon after the win, Shrestha shared her celebrations on Instagram and wrote: “Strong start, stronger intentions. Ab bas jeet pe focus”. Earlier, PBKS restricted GT to 162 runs for 6 through a tight bowling effort with Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/34), Yuzvendra Chahal (2/28) and Marco Jansen (1/20) sharing the wickets after opting for a tight bowling effort. For GT, key contributions were made by skipper Shubman Gill (39), Jos Buttler (38), Glenn Phillips (25) and Washington Sundar (18).In reply, PBKS chased down the target in 19.1 overs with Connolly (72 not out off 44 balls) leading the way. Prasidh Krishna (3/29), Rashid Khan (1/29) and Washington Sundar (1/27) took wickets for GT.
However, the win also came with an injury scare for Iyer, with Connolly’s fierce shot hitting the non-striker’s end on the wrist, forcing him to seek medical attention.In his post-match speech, Ayer said of his injury: “All I can say about the hand is that it was a good hand, as before, and I didn’t want to jinx anything.”He also praised Connolly’s winning goal, saying: “Cooper has a good mentality and I hope he can continue to maintain his form. I have watched him play for Australia. Some of his shots looked surreal, especially Rashid’s one.”
