IPL 2026: PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer fined Rs. 12 lakh for slow over-rate

Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer has been fined ?12 lakh after his team was found guilty of maintaining a slow over-rate during their IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans at the New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.

Despite the penalty, it turned out to be a memorable outing for Punjab Kings, who secured a thrilling three-wicket victory while chasing a target of 163. The game remained tightly contested, with the Shubman Gill-led Gujarat side keeping the pressure on throughout.

The highlight of the chase was a brilliant unbeaten 72 off 44 balls by debutant Cooper Connolly, whose composed innings guided Punjab home with five balls to spare. Earlier, Prabhsimran Singh provided early momentum with a quick 37, stitching together a crucial 76-run partnership with Connolly. Even after a middle-order wobble triggered by Prasidh Krishna, Connolly held firm to finish the job.

Gujarat Titans had earlier posted 162/6, thanks to solid contributions from Gill (39) and Jos Buttler (38). However, disciplined bowling from Punjab, led by Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/34) and Yuzvendra Chahal, restricted them from putting up a bigger total.

The fine imposed on Iyer falls under Article 2.22 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which deals with minimum over-rate offences. Since this was Punjab’s first such offence of the season, only the captain was penalised.

Punjab Kings will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.

With inputs from IANS