Punjab Kings trio in Australia’s white-ball squads in limbo as the Kings and Cameron Green’s Kolkata were pipped by Rajasthan
Cameron Green and Cooper Connolly were among the Australian white-ball squad members whose Indian Premier League seasons ended abruptly after Rajasthan Royals pinched the final playoff spot overnight (AEST).
It might have been a different story if not for Aussie Ashes nemesis Jofra Archer, whose fine all-round performance ended Connolly’s Punjab Kings and Green’s Kolkata Knight Riders’ hopes of sneaking into the finals.
Punjab, whose exit has also left Ben Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett in limbo ahead of Australia’s forthcoming tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh, finally snapped a six-game losing streak to move into fourth spot on the weekend.
But the Royals’ 30-run win over Mumbai Indians on Sunday eliminated the Ponting-coach Kings, as well as Kolkata, who lost to Delhi Capitals anyway in the final home-and-away match as Mitchell Starc took 2-26.
Australia selectors had already presumed Green would be available for all three legs of the forthcoming limited-overs series, with the first ODI against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Saturday overlapping with Sunday’s IPL final.
But they had not initially banked on Connolly, Dwarshuis and Bartlett’s Kings tumbling down the standings as spectacularly as they did.
Oliver Peake, Matt Short and Billy Stanlake were named for the Pakistan ODIs instead with the Punjab trio instead slated to join the Australia camp in Bangladesh next month ahead of the three-ODI, three-T20I tour.
Selectors have left the squads open to change but they will not remove players already named for Pakistan. The squad arrived in Islamabad over the weekend.
Where that leaves Connolly, Dwarshuis and Bartlett for now remains unclear.
On Monday morning, Archer struck 32 off 15 balls to help Rajasthan score 8-205 in their must-win final league game, and then took 3-17 in four overs as Mumbai were restricted to 9-175.
“I don’t think it’s my best year, I have bowled a little bit better than this,” Archer said after he was named player of the match.
“Every time you take the ball, you just try to bowl in good areas. Some days you’re not going to get rewarded, happy that we got rewarded on the day we needed to win.
“I wasn’t expecting to bat so early. Because of the impact sub, I hardly get to bat. When the coach said, ‘Put the pads on,’ I was surprised. I’m glad I was able to contribute. I class myself an allrounder.”
It meant Rajasthan (16 points) secured fourth spot — a point ahead of Punjab — with their eighth win in 14 games.
Mumbai finished ninth with 10 losses in 14 games, just above the Justin Langer-coached Lucknow on net run-rate.
In the ensuing match, Green was out third ball to wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav as Kolkata fell 40 runs short of Delhi’s 5-203, with the allrounder also sending down two wicketless overs for 21 runs.
The Knight Riders (13 points) finished seventh on the table, with six wins in 14 games. Delhi (14 points) ended sixth with seven wins.
– with AAP
Australians in IPL 2026
Chennai Super Kings: Matt Short ($255k), Spencer Johnson ($255k, replaces Nathan Ellis ($340k))
Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Starc ($2m)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood ($2.13m), Tim David ($510k)
Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis ($1.9m), Ben Dwarshuis ($745k), Mitchell Owen ($510k), Cooper Connolly ($510k), Xavier Bartlett ($136k)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Cameron Green ($3.5m)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins ($3.5m), Travis Head ($2.38m), Jack Edwards ($510k, withdrawn)
Lucknow Super Giants: Josh Inglis ($1.49m), Mitchell Marsh ($578k)
