Shreyas Iyer leads by example as Punjab thump Lucknow to remain alive in IPL 2026 playoffs race
Shreyas Iyer smashed an unbeaten 101 off 51 balls as Punjab Kings defeated Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets to stay alive in the IPL 2026 playoffs race. Prabhsimran Singh also starred as PBKS chased down 197 with two overs left.
After suffering six consecutive defeats, Punjab Kings returned to winning ways in the clash against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana. Their back was against the wall and they needed something extraordinary to turn the tables. On such an occasion, captain Shreyas Iyer stepped up and played a scintillating knock. He led by example and handed the team a crucial seven-wicket win to keep the team alive in the IPL 2026 playoffs race.
Batting first, Lucknow had a decent start with Josh Inglis playing a vital role. Thy lost two early wickets of Arshin Kulkarni and Nicholas Pooran, but Inglis managed to keep the scoreboard ticking alongside Ayush Badoni. The duo stitched a partnership of 49 runs to help Lucknow gain some momentum.
During that phase, Badoni dominated the proceedings, scoring 43 runs off 18 balls. After he departed, Inglis took over the responsibility, scoring 72 runs off 44 balls. Towards the fag end of the innings, Abdul Samad played a vital cameo of 37 runs off 20 balls and with that, Lucknow posted 196 runs on the board. Meanwhile, for Punjab, Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen claimed two wickets each.
Shreyas Iyer show decimates LSG
Punjab lost two early wickets of Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly, but that didn’t spoil the plans of the Shreyas Iyer-led side. The captain himself played a decimating knock off unbeaten 101 runs off 51 balls as Punjab got the job done with 12 balls remaining.
Keeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh played the perfect role of a second fiddle, adding 69 runs off 39 balls. The duo added a stand of 140 runs and that completely took the game away from Lucknow. Ace pacer Mohammed Shami picked up two crucial wickets in the powerplay and that should have helped Lucknow set the momentum, but none of the other bowlers could capitalise.
With the win, Punjab have now moved to number four on the points table. All they will need to hope is Rajasthan suffer on Sunday against Mumbai Indians and then KKR not to beat their NRR.
More to follow..