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The team of Punjab Kings (PBKS) seems to be going off track. PBKS, which started the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 with 6 consecutive wins, has faced defeat in the second back to back match. On April 28, the team captained by Shreyas Iyer failed to defend 222 runs against Rajasthan Royals in New Chandigarh. After this, now he has to face defeat at the hands of Gujarat Titans (GT).

Before this match played in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 3), PBKS was considered a strong contender for victory but GT surprised everyone. GT won the toss at their home ground and elected to bat first and then restricted PBKS to 163 runs and won by 4 wickets. The team captained by Shubman Gill was trapped in the last overs during this successful run chase but Washington Sundar (40 runs not out from 23 balls) stood at one end and took them to the threshold of victory.

PBKS made Chahal bowl only 1 over

When invited to bat first in the match, PBKS lost 5 wickets before reaching 47 runs. Suryansh Shedge, who came at number-6, recovered from the initial shock by scoring 57 runs in 29 balls, hitting 3 fours and 5 sixes. Whereas Marcus Stoinis (40 runs in 31 balls) and Marco Janson (20 runs in 11 balls) made useful contributions to take PBKS to a fighting score. On behalf of GT, Jason Holder bowled lethally and took 4 wickets for 24 runs in 4 overs. Mohammad Siraj and Kagiso Rabada had 2-2 wickets in their account, while Rashid Khan took 1 wicket.

Considering the help the fast bowlers were getting from the pitch, 160 plus total was considered good. PBKS had a chance to take control of the match with the new ball but could take only 1 wicket in the powerplay. During this period, Gujarat Titans scored 58 runs. Now it was expected that PBKS would use Yuzvendra Chahal on the attack and try to control the run rate but Shreyas did not hand the ball to this leg spin grandmaster for 13 overs. He called Chahal to bowl in the 14th over. By this time, GT seemed to be in complete control of the run chase and then it took steps towards victory by scoring 13 runs in Chahal’s over. Shreyas did not make Chahal bowl after this.

PBKS plan went waste

After this, Shreyas continuously attacked with fast bowlers. However, GT did not give them any chance and despite needing 11 runs in the last over, they won with 1 ball remaining. PBKS bowled 18.5 overs from the fast bowlers in this match, yet it did not get the victory. Earlier in 2008, PBKS (then Kings XI Punjab) had adopted a similar plan against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali, where they bowled 19 overs against the fast bowlers and defended the total of 178 runs and won by 9 runs.