Punjab Kings’ captain Shreyas Iyer (right) celebrates his century and the team’s win with Suryansh Shedge after the IPL 2026 T20 cricket match with Lucknow Super Giants, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on May 23, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
After six consecutive morale-denting losses, Punjab Kings finally put on a dominant show in the seven-wicket victory against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday (May 23, 2026).
PBKS, powered by an unbeaten century from captain Shreyas Iyer, thus kept alive its hopes in the thrilling playoff race. A Rajasthan Royals loss to Mumbai Indians on Sunday (May 24, 2026) could guarantee Kings a knockout spot for the second consecutive season.
Chasing a tricky 197, PBKS made a disastrous start. A returning Mohammed Shami struck with his very first ball to dismiss Priyansh Arya and then bowled Cooper Connolly with a sharp delivery that nipped.
The away side, however, recovered with the Shreyas-Prabhsimran Singh alliance as both batters went on the offensive when presented opportunities. Prabhsimran found the gaps to keep the run flow going and raced to his fifty off 28 balls.
The wicketkeeper-batter put on a match-winning 140-run third-wicket stand with his skipper before he was trapped LBW by Arjun Tendulkar. At the other end, Shreyas completed his century off the last ball of the chase to ensure his side got past the finish line with ease.
Earlier, Shreyas elected to bowl against a Mitchell Marsh-less LSG.
But Marsh’s absence hardly mattered for Josh Inglis as the Australian opener maintained his aggressive intent. He opened the innings with a flurry of boundaries off Arshdeep Singh, but Arshin Kulkarni’s golden duck and Nicholas Pooran’s brief stay in the middle stalled LSG’s momentum.
Ayush Badoni, however, revived the innings with a blistering 43 off just 18 balls before being brilliantly stumped by Prabhsimran off leggie Yuzvendra Chahal.
Inglis and skipper Rishabh Pant combined for a 65-run stand. While Inglis brought up his half-century by smashing 17 of the 19 runs in Arshdeep’s 12th over, Pant, who was dropped by Shreyas, eventually fell to Marco Jansen.
With Arshdeep being expensive, Shreyas turned to part-timer Shashank Singh. Boundaries dried up after the medium-pacer sent back Inglis, but Abdul Samad’s late assault on Arshdeep propelled LSG to a competitive 196 for six.
The total, however, seemed insufficient once Shreyas got into his zone.
Published – May 24, 2026 12:37 am IST
