Punjab Kings’ innings was powered by near-centuries from Priyansh Arya (93 off 37) and Cooper Connolly (87 off 46) after Mohammed Shami had dismissed Prabhsimran Singh for a golden duck. The pair put on 182 runs off 80 balls – the third-highest stand (for any wicket) for Punjab in IPL history.

Arya smashed nine sixes overall – scoring 50 off only 19 balls in his second half-century of the season.

At the other end, Connolly hit seven sixes and eight fours overall – he got to 50 off 35 balls.

The duo went after every bowler, including Mohsin Khan and Avesh Khan, hitting five sixes between them off the 13th over bowled by Aiden Markram.

Punjab reached 200 in 16.3 overs, but lost both set batters as well as in-form skipper Shreyas Iyer in the process. Arya was caught at long-off, while Connolly was caught at short third man.

Iyer fell for just five runs, but Marcus Stoinis (29) and Shashank Singh (17) pushed Punjab past 250 for only the second time.

It had previously scored 262-2 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024.

Punjab hit 21 sixes against LSG. PBKS skipper Iyer revealed that he put his willow on the line with the batter hitting the most maximums, winning it. The host franchise defeated the Lucknow Super Giants by 54 runs after restricting them to 200 for 5.

“I spoke to Priyansh and Cooper about that. I urged them to compete, and the one smashing the most sixes takes it. They both agreed. The prize was my bat, and I am happy if they keep performing the way they did,” he said.

Priyansh has hit 20 sixes, while Shreyas and Connolly are second with 14 maximums each.

Prabhsimran Singh is third with 11.

“It is important to allow players to express themselves without changing the way they play. Ricky and I say few words before the match, and the boys delivered in the middle,” he added.

PBKS are leading the points table and are still unbeaten in IPL 2026.