Shreyas Iyer had a special night on Saturday as he slammed his maiden IPL century that helped Punjab Kings stay alive in the playoff hunt with a seven-wicket win over already eliminated Lucknow Super Giants.
With the win, PBKS are now in the fourth position of the points table with 15 points from 14 matches.
“Ecstatic, first hundred of the season, we won eventually after six consecutive losses. I know if I give myself time in the middle and time the ball, rather than getting on top of the ball…I know I need to stay out there for as long as possible,” said Shreyas in the post-match presentation.
“It’s a surreal feeling, finishing a game and scoring a century. I was in a great mind space, felt super from within,” he added.
However, PBKS’ progress to the playoffs would depend on the result of Sunday’s match between Rajasthan Royals (14 points) and Mumbai Indians. If RR manage to beat MI, they will enter the playoff as the fourth team with 16 points, knocking PBKS out of IPL 2026.
“We support MI tomorrow,” Shreyas said.
He along with Prabhsimran Singh (69) put up a 140-run partnership for the third wicket.
“Prabh was temperamentally active and the communication we had was great. That partnership was crucial, created momentum in the game… seriously elated,” he said, while also praising the bowlers for restricting LSG to a sub-200 total.
Ahead of the crucial match, Shreyas said PBKS kept the strategy simple where he revealed that they didn’t had a team meeting even.
“We just kept it simple, rather than having meetings and putting pressure on the boys. Free flow of mind is required in crucial games. We don’t want to make them overthink, and I told Ricky that we don’t need to do a team meeting,” he said.
PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting lauded Shreyas and said he has massive respect for the PBKS skipper who has matured as a player and leader.
“Pretty clinical chase, the captain has done that often before. It’s his first IPL century and we’ll celebrate that.
“He’s a brilliant guy, very mature player, mature leader, keeps his emotions in check, the respect he has is second to none, delighted to work with him, delighted with the season he has had,” said Ponting.
LSG skipper Rishabh Pant said it was a tough season and promised to come back stronger next year.
“It’s been a long season, we promise to come back stronger next year. It’s a tough one, but we have to bite the bullet, keep our head high, and have learned a lot,” said Pant.
Pant said his side will take a lot of positives from the season. “As a team we want to look at the positives — Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh, Prince Yadav, all had a terrific season. Mohsin Khan coming back from injury, then Shami bhai. Definitely a lot of positives,” he said.
