Yuzvendra Chahal shines with two wickets in PBKS vs GT IPL 2026 Match 4

Punjab Kings, the IPL 2014 and 2025 runners-up, and Gujarat Titans, the IPL 2022 champions, have started their journey in the IPL 2026 on Tuesday night (March 31), as they are facing each other at New Chandigarh. The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, the leading wicket-taker in IPL history, has started the season strongly with the ball. 

At the home venue, Punjab Kings chose to field first after winning the toss. Gujarat Titans' batters fought hard to manage the first innings total of 162/6 in 20 overs. So, the two-time runners-up PBKS need 163 runs to win their season opener. 

Punjab Kings right-arm pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak produced the best bowling figures, which were 4-0-34-3. Meanwhile, the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal finished with the bowling figures of 4-0-28-2, as he managed the second-best economy rate in that innings. The tall left-arm fast bowler Marco Jansen had the controlled bowling figures of 4-0-20-1. 

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Gujarat Titans batters fail to capitalise on strong start

In the Gujarat Titans' innings, the top-order batters got starts but failed to capitalise on their innings. The opening partnership was for 37 runs before Sai Sudharsan (13) was dismissed in the fourth over.

Captain and other opener Shubman Gill scored 39 runs, while the wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler scored 38 runs. New Zealand star Glenn Phillips scored 25 runs. Despite scoring 54/1 at the powerplay, they were restricted to under 165. 

Yuzvendra Chahal dismisses two set batters to shift momentum

In the crucial moments of the first innings, Chahal dismissed two set Gujarat Titans batters. After Gill was dismissed in the 10th over, Buttler was out in the 16th over, as Chahal dismissed both of them who were on 30s. Both dismissals became game changing moment, as Cooper Connolly took the catch of Gill at deep midwicket, and Xavier Bartlett took a brilliant timely-jumping catch.  

Fans react to Chahal’s impressive start in IPL 2026