One of the biggest reasons for PBKS’ turnaround in the IPL space in the last two years, has to be their batting. It was on full display on Sunday, as opener Priyansh Arya was on the verge of smashing a sub 40-ball century, but eventually got out for 93 from 37. While no. 3 bat Cooper Connolly finished with 87 from 46.
Priyansh Arya-Cooper Connolly new fearsome duo
After Prabhsimran Singh got out for a golden duck, the duo of Priyansh-Connolly added 182 runs together, one of the highest for PBKS ever. In fact, it is their third-best ever, only surpassed by Shaun Marsh and Adam Gilchrist, who scored 206 together against RCB in 2011, and Mayank Agarwal-KL Rahul’s 183. The magnitude of this partnership can only be understood by the fact, that the fourth-best is only 139 by Shreyas Iyer and Prabh, set this year vs MI.
Not just LSG did not have chances come their way, but they failed to grab them, literally. Just in the second over, when this duo was yet to tee off, Connolly hit one straight back to the bowler Moshin Khan, who failed to take the chance. At that point, the Aussie was batting at 5.
LSG offer lifelines
A similar chance came Prince Yadav’s way, when Priyansh was batting at 64, in the 10th over, but the bowler failed to grab it in his follow through. But then, fortune did favor the two Punjab batters, who left no stone unturned, to cook Lucknow bowlers in their own backyard — hitting a combined 16 sixes and 12 fours.
For the record, the stand came in just 80 deliveries, and the scoring rate here was at a massive 13.65. This is the fourth-best for PBKS, for all partnership over 100 runs, as per Cricbuzz. The best is by David Miller and R Satish in 2013 — 15.91.
- Highest run-rate for a 100-plus stand for PBKS
- 15.91 – 130(49) – David Miller, R Sathish vs RCB, Mohali, 2013
- 13.73 – 119(52) – Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma vs MI, Mohali, 2023
- 13.69 – 105(46) – Deepak Hooda, KL Rahul vs RR, Mumbai WS, 2021
- 13.65 – 182(80) – Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly vs LSG, Mullanpur, 2026
- 12.87 – 206(96) – Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh vs RCB, Dharamsala, 2011
The records did not stop there. It was one particular over — 12th of the innings by Aiden Markram, that fetched PBKS 32 runs; in that Connolly hit two sixes and Priyansh hit two. That meant, this was the most expensive over by any LSG bowler. The South African surpassed Ravi Bishnoi’s 27 against RCB in the 2022 Eliminator in Kolkata.
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