Head coach Ricky Ponting was amazed by the game, as PBKS only managed to defend 111 runs, the lowest total ever defended in the league’s history. With a 16-run victory over the reigning champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday in Mullanpur, Punjab Kings (PBKS) pulled off one of the most exciting comebacks in IPL history.
Three days prior, PBKS had suffered a loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad after failing to defend a total of 245. Their fielding and bowling have been called into question after that defeat. Punjab’s hitters were bowled out for 111 in the match against KKR.
PBKS got off to a strong start after choosing to bat first, with Priyansh Arya (22) and Prabhsimran Singh (30) scoring 39 runs in 3.1 overs. However, Arya and Shreyas Iyer were both sent back to the pavilion by Harshit Rana’s double-wicket over. With Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, wickets continued to fall.
During the chase, KKR appeared to be in good control at 62 for 2. Eight wickets were lost for just 33 runs in the spectacular collapse that followed. Yuzvendra Chahal spearheaded the attack with 4 for 28, including vital middle-order wickets. With three for seventeen, including the ejection of Andre Russell, Marco Jansen contributed.
“It was a season-defining moment and the best triumph I’ve ever had. My heart rate is still slightly elevated; it’s most likely above 200. Now that I’m over fifty, I don’t require many of those games. It only serves to highlight how hilarious the game is. We are defending 112 [111] with 16 runs left after failing to protect 246 [245] just three days ago. At the midway point, we really told the boys that sometimes the hardest pursuits are the little ones like this one. It wasn’t an easy wicket. Shortly after the game, he told the commentator, “You can see right through the game it was holding up.”
These kinds of victories are always the most delightful: Ricky Ponting
The former Australian captain continued by praising Chahal, the player of the moment, and saying that PBKS had made a clear strategic adjustment, assigning the new ball to Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett based on matchups instead of the typical Arshdeep Singh.
With Marco Jansen taking the first over and Xavier Bartlett taking the second, you can probably see how we also altered things up with the ball. Arshdeep Singh has typically played this role with the new ball, but tonight’s matchups indicated that Jansen and Bartlett were more appropriate. But tonight, what about [Yuzvendra] Chahal? What a fantastic bowling spell! In fact, we’ve given him a little of it this week. I grabbed him during the warm-up, looked him in the eye, and asked, “Mate, are you okay?” He had to pass a fitness test today because of a shoulder injury he sustained in the last game. ‘Coach, I’m 100% fine, let me go out there,’ he remarked, adding, “and what a spell of bowling.”
Ponting said this was the biggest victory in his IPL coaching career since 2014 as he watched from the sidelines as PBKS defended 111, the lowest total ever defended in IPL history, for a 16-run victory.
However, we just stated that the sweetest victories are always those like this one. This would be as good of a victory as most men have likely experienced if we can pull it off. That may have been the best victory I’ve ever experienced in my many IPL coaching gigs. Wins like this are always the sweetest, as we just mentioned. “This would be as good of a win as most guys have likely been involved in if we can pull this off,” Ponting said.
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