With captain Shreyas Iyer’s magnificent unbeaten 101, Punjab Kings regained their winning ways after six straight losses. They defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 7 wickets on Saturday to stay in the running for the IPL playoffs.
Punjab made 200/3 chasing LSG’s 196/2 in 18 overs. Shreyas, whose first IPL century came off 51 balls, and Prabhsimran Singh (69, 39 balls) contributed 140 runs for the third wicket.
With the win, Punjab was able to retake the fourth spot on the table with 15 points from all 14 league games.
However, they will now have to endure a torturous wait to find out their fate as the Rajasthan Royals (14) play the Mumbai Indians on Sunday in Mumbai. If RR win, they will have 16 points and be in fourth place going into the playoffs.
Should RR lose to MI, the Kolkata Knight Riders (13 points), who play the Delhi Capitals in the second game of the weekend, also have a remote chance.
In that scenario, KKR and PBKS, who will be tied at 15 points, will compete on net run rate. Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already advanced to the playoffs.
Equation concerns aside, Shreyas displayed his steely nerves while pursuing once more with a fantastic knock.
Opener Priyansh Arya succumbed to a first-ball duck to Mohammad Shami (2/45), and the seasoned India pacer uprooted Cooper Connolly’s off-stump as PBKS descended into chaos.
However, Shreyas was unconcerned about those early setbacks and, predictably, dominated both pacers and spinners with drives, pulls, and those signature flicks off pads. Spinner Digvesh Rathee was severely punished by him for a barrage of onside boundaries, while Prabshimran, who received reprieves on 20 and 62, skillfully supported his captain.
In 26 balls, Prabshimran scored his sixth fifty of the year, while his senior companion did it in 33 balls. Shreyas donned an enforcer’s cape after reaching fifty, and the next 51 runs were scored off of just 18 balls.
Prabshimran fell leg before to left-arm Arjun Tendulkar.
Shreyas hammered Shami for three sixes in an over to accelerate his team’s victory march. He also achieved his hundred with a six off Mohsin Khan, which also marked PBKS’ victory.
Earlier, LSG scored 196/6 riding on Josh Inglis’ customarily punishing 72. The already-eliminated LSG bounced back from a wobbly 69/3 in the seventh over thanks to 65 runs for the fourth wicket from Inglis and Pant (26).
There were two stages to Inglis’ 42-ball inning. Arshdeep Singh was attacked in the first over, with four fours giving the Australian 16 runs. However, he left the stage to make room for Ayush Badoni, who arrived at the crease following the early dismissal of Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh’s replacement, Arshin Kulkarni.
With an 18-ball 43 and 49 runs for the third wicket with Inglis, Badoni stole the show. In the fifth over, he amassed 24 runs against Azmatuallah Omarzai, the top all-rounder according to the ICC rankings. The run glut included a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 4.
It ended the power play at a respectable 66/2 and helped LSG bounce back from the early exits of two top-order batters.
However, Prabhsimran Singh’s deft stumping of Yuzvendra Chahal put an end to Badoni’s daring, and the DRS confirmed its legitimacy. But Inglis awoke from his daze with a series of dazzling shots around the ground, and he began the second part of his innings by hitting Arshdeep with a six, four, and four in a row.
Arshdeep’s poor season was prolonged by Inglis, who milked him for six fours and two sixes.
Even though Pant was not playing at his best when he was dropped by Shreyas Iyer at covers off Chahal on 18, he remained there to provide Inglis with some much-needed company. After reaching his fifty in 28 balls, the Australian right-hander lost Pant, who was dismissed by Chahal (2/25).
Shreyas, who had positioned himself at a more direct long-on position, grabbed an easy catch after Inglis eventually fell to part-time Shahshank Singh. LSG’s hopes of surpassing 200 vanished after Mukul Choudhary was cheaply dismissed by Marco Jansen (2/33), despite Abdul Samad (37 not out from 20 balls) hitting a few good knocks.
The son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun Tendulkar, played in his sixth IPL match, making a rare appearance.
