Jason Holder’s 4 for 24 led Gujarat Titans past Punjab Kings, and ashutosh sharma was not among the verified facts for this IPL 2026 report. Holder also collected player of the match after a spell that fit a week in which bowlers have pulled back ground.
Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders have each won their last three matches in IPL 2026. KKR beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Gujarat beat Punjab Kings and stayed level with Rajasthan Royals on points, behind only on net run rate.
Holder and Varun Chakaravarthy
Holder’s return of 4 for 24 stood out in a match where Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj supported him and Arshdeep Singh took wickets for Punjab Kings. In the day match, Varun Chakaravarthy took 3 for 36 and won player of the match, with Kartik Tyagi and Sunil Narine also taking two wickets each.
The numbers point to a change in scoring across IPL 2026. Nearly 50% of the innings in the first 23 matches produced scores of 200 or more, but that share fell to one third in the last 24 matches, after the 2025 edition had already shown a similar easing from one third to one in five.
Middle-table pressure
Arshad Khan took 3 wickets in match number 42 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rashid Khan took 2, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned 3 wickets for 28 runs for RCB. In the Chennai Super Kings meeting with Mumbai Indians, Anshul Kamboj took 3 for 32 and Noor Ahmad took 2 for 26, leaving teams in the middle of the table with four weeks left to make up ground.
That leaves Gujarat in a tight race with Rajasthan Royals and keeps KKR’s run intact at a stage when the season has moved away from the earliest scoring pace. The bowlers have found some of their mojo back, and the next results will decide which of these short winning runs turns into a position on the table that lasts.
