Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by seven wickets at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 101-run knock, after Prabhsimran Singh’s brilliant 69, helped PBKS chase down the target of 197 with 12 balls to spare.
PBKS won the toss and opted to bowl first, striking early in the innings as AzmatullahOmarzai dismissed Arshin Kulkarni for a golden duck and Marco Jansen removed Nicholas Pooran for 2 off 7 balls.
But Josh Inglis continued his excellent form with a brilliant 72 off 44 balls. He added 49 runs with Ayush Badoni, 65 with Captain Rishabh Pant, and 35 with Abdul Samad to take LSG to a slightly sub-par but respectable 196/6. Yuzvendra Chahal returned with exceptional figures of 2/25 in the middle overs, taking out both Badoni and Pant.
Mohammed Shami struck on his first delivery to remove Priyansh Arya for a duck in the chase, before puzzling PBKS further with the dismissal of Cooper Connolly for 18 off 10 deliveries.
Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer realised the magnitude of the situation and held their crease, keeping the scoreboard moving during the chase.
The two explosive batters put together a 140-run partnership for the third wicket with individual half-centuries.
With this win, Punjab have not only ended their six-match losing streak but also kept their playoff hopes alive in the tournament.