Shreyas Iyer picked the perfect evening to score his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) ton as he powered Punjab Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Lucknow Super Giants.

“He’s a tremendous leader of many. He reads the game well,” said PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin after the game.

“There are two main things that I think I enjoy most about him. One is his care for his players, and the other is his appetite for the big moment. He’s seen that tonight. He wanted to be the one to make the difference, and that’s what you want from your leaders, whether it’s for the IPL or for your country,” added the 48-year-old.

Haddin emphasised that the team’s overall execution in high-pressure situations has been a major focus behind the scenes.

“I think as any coaching staff, you have to identify moments where you need to get better, and that’s what we’ve done. A lot of the games we lost went to the last over and a couple to the last ball where we were close, but we probably weren’t identifying those big moments,” he said.

Lucknow Super Giants’ captain Rishabh Pant in action during the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 Twenty20 cricket match against Punjab Kings at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on May 23, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP

While one captain delivered when it mattered, his counterpart, Rishabh Pant, had little to show for his efforts — either on Saturday (May 23, 2026) or across a grueling season.

LSG’s Global Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, felt his captaincy and batting are correlated. “From a captaincy point of view, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that. And you have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat,” he said.

“And certainly when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s something that we’ll be giving some very serious consideration to what it looks like in the future,” he added.

The last time Punjab Kings (PBKS) faced the now-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 19 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, it was the team to beat, going unbeaten in its first six games.

Cut to the present, and the Shreyas Iyer-led side has suffered six consecutive losses. It now faces a must-win situation against LSG in Lucknow on Saturday (May 23, 2026).

Punjab’s season has been a tale of two contrasting departments. Its batting has been terrifying. With over 2,400 runs and a tournament-leading 156 sixes, PBKS possesses the firepower to overwhelm anyone with the bat.

At the top, Priyansh Arya strikes at an absurd rate of 212.86, while Prabhsimran Singh relentlessly attacks the PowerPlay. Meanwhile, the breakout brilliance of Cooper Connolly (473 runs) anchors the middle order, with Shreyas Iyer providing stability.

However, Punjab’s Achilles’ heel is a bowling attack that has been violently exposed.

Its pace battery is bleeding. Premier pacer Arshdeep Singh, despite taking 14 wickets, is conceding at an economy of 9.78. Even Lockie Ferguson and Marco Jansen, its rotating overseas options, have struggled for consistency in the death overs. Without a disciplined defensive spearhead, Punjab is failing to contain teams in high-pressure finishes.

Lucknow, playing purely for pride, remains highly volatile. Free from pressure, LSG’s opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis — coming off a blistering 109-run stand — will look to launch a fearless PowerPlay assault to shatter Punjab’s fragile defensive lines.

For Punjab, surviving this initial onslaught is only the first step in a much larger, agonising battle for self-preservation. A win on Saturday won’t guarantee qualification for the 2025 finalist.

Its catastrophic losing streak has stripped it of control over its destiny. Even if PBKS reaches 15 points, it needs Mumbai Indians to defeat the Rajasthan Royals. If that happens and Kolkata Knight Riders also finishes on 15 points, PBKS’s superior Net Run Rate will be its ultimate saving grace to sneak into the playoffs.

Rajasthan Royals is just a win away from qualifying for the IPL playoffs. The Royals have to thank two players in particular for allowing them to hope going into their last league match. While everyone is raving — and rightly so — about the incredible Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Jofra Archer’s contribution hasn’t received as much attention.

It was his brilliant final over that ensured Sooryavanshi would have to chase a lesser target against Lucknow Super Giants in the must-win encounter at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) . In LSG’s last over, just five runs came, not to mention the loss of three wickets.

It was a fine comeback by the Barbados-born England quick after disappointing in the PowerPlay. In the first half of the IPL this season, it was his fast and furious spells in the PowerPlay that broke the back of the rival teams’ batting.

With the new ball, he would deliver some awkward balls, some of which would climb menacingly into the batter. With the South African left-armer Nandre Burger, he formed probably the season’s most lethal new-ball attack.

Archer has been a trusted servant for Royals since landing in Jaipur in 2018. He hadn’t made his senior international debut yet. After being discovered, and taken along to Sussex, by fellow-Bajan Chris Jordan, he was serving the waiting period to play for England.

Rajasthan Royals’ pacer Jofra Archer bowls during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL)-2026 cricket match against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Rajasthan on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

He had already been fascinated with the IPL. “I always wanted to play at the IPL but didn’t know how,” he had told this correspondent back then. Royals made it easier for him, spending Rs. 7.2 crore. Except for one season, in 2023 when he turned up for Mumbai Indians, he has always been with the Rajasthan franchise.

After taking 15 wickets in his first season, he took 20 in the 2020 edition, in which he was also the Most Valuable Player. Royals need him to breathe fire in Mumbai on Sunday (May 24, 2026).

For the second time this season, Mitchell Marsh lit up the night sky at the Ekana Stadium as his marauding 38-ball 90 (9×4, 7×6) powered his side to a thumping seven-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in an IPL 2026 encounter in Lucknow on Friday (May 15, 2026).

A week after his 111 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the same venue, Marsh unleashed his brutal power hitting on a hapless Super Kings pace attack and made short work of the 188-run target.

At the halfway stage, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men would have fancied their chances. The CSK bowlers, though, failed to hit the right lengths and paid the price.

Marsh started by picking Mukesh Choudhary off his pads for a couple of boundaries in the first over to set the tone. Then in the fifth over, he cut loose, smashing Anshul Kamboj for four maximums and a four. The LSG opener charged down and smacked Kamboj over cover off the first ball, and it was enough to rattle the pacer.

Kamboj followed it up by feeding innocuous short-pitched deliveries, which were duly dispatched over the ropes.

In the final over of the PowerPlay, Marsh did not spare compatriot Spencer Johnson, swatting him over leg-side to race to his half-century off just 21 balls.

By the time the Australian was dismissed, running out at the non-striker’s end, he had brought the equation to nearly a run-a-ball. Nicholas Pooran closed it out in style when he meted out a similar treatment to Kamboj by punishing him for four consecutive sixes as LSG cantered home with 20 balls to spare.

For CSK, the loss ended its three-match winning streak and, more importantly, dealt a huge blow to its playoff chances.

Earlier, Super Kings managed 187 for five, riding on Kartik Sharma’s fine 71 (42b, 6×4, 5×6) after being put in to bat.

Akash Singh (4-0-26-3), playing his first game of the season, was impressive with his back-of-length deliveries, scalping three wickets in an unchanged four-over burst.

CSK could only muster 37 for two in the PowerPlay. Even as his teammates struggled, Kartik demonstrated his temperament in the manner he adapted to the challenging conditions. His shot selection was on the money, evidenced by his well-timed pulled sixes off Prince Yadav as he guided his team to a decent total. However, Marsh had other ideas.