Follow UsPunjab Kings (PBKS) did what was unthinkable in this day and age, defending 111 in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match against a side which boasted batters like Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, and Venkatesh Iyer. With these three batters yet to come, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) needed only 50 runs to get in 74 balls.
Yet, it happened as Yuzvendra Chahal took 4/28 and guided his new franchise to an unbelievable 16-run win at the Maharaja Yadvinder Singh Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, on April 15 (Tuesday).
Shreyas Iyer, the Punjab skipper, who went all-out with his plans to defend the undefendable, said that he wanted Chahal to control his breathing after the ball was turning miles on the wicket.
“I saw the ball was turning a bit, asked Yuzi to control his breathing as much as possible, we needed to be attacking. I'm not able to talk. It's tough to digest this victory,” Shreyas said in the post-match presentation.
Chahal, on his part, claimed that he always believed in himself and that taking wickets was his only motive in the innings.
"My first ball turned, so Shreyas said let's have a slip. We needed to take wickets to win this game because the runs were low. I always had self-belief in myself. I always think about how to get the batters out,” said the Player of the match award winner.
Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR skipper, though, said that he would take the blame for the loss as it was his wicket that gave Punjab a way in, and they capitalised. In fact, Rahane didn’t even review the LBW decision that might have actually been overturned had he reviewed it.
"I'll take the blame, I played the wrong shot,” Rahane said. “[It] was missing [wickets],” he added about his LBW call. Blaming the batters, including himself, Rahane said, “111 was chaseable, we batted really badly as a batting unit, bowlers did really well against a strong Punjab batting line-up.”