Punjab Kings (PBKS) ended the six-match losing streak and defeated Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets to keep the playoff hopes alive.
Chasing 197, PBKS lost early wickets, but captain scored a brilliant century to lead his side to victory. After the win, Shreyas Iyer said he’ll be supporting the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the next game.
PBKS started the tournament with a bang and pulled off a six-match winning streak before the tides turned and the team lost back-to-back games. At one point, PBKS looked set to top the points table, but as things stand, they don’t have playoff qualification in their hands.
PBKS have 15 points in 14 matches, and they’ll need the Mumbai Indians to defeat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to stay alive. If MI win, the team will then shift focus to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Delhi Capitals (DC) match, where they would need DC to beat KKR, or hope that KKR don’t win by a big margin. In that case, KKR and PBKS will be tied on points, but PBKS, with a better run rate, will go through.
Shreyas Iyer was delighted to accomplish the double feat against LSG. It was his first century of the season and also kept the team alive in the playoff race.
“I’m ecstatic to be honest. It’s my first hundred of the season and came at the right time when the team needed it,” Shreyas said during the post-match presentation.
“We won eventually after six consecutive losses. It’s a great positive and just hoping to support MI tomorrow.”
PBKS Avoided Team Meetings
Iyer said that after six defeats, he felt that PBKS needed freedom rather than team meetings.
“We didn’t say anything, just kept it simple,” Shreyas explained.
“Rather than having meetings, putting more pressure on the boys. You kinda get lost in the previous losses when you discuss a lot.”
“It’s important that you let them be. Free-flow of mind is required in crucial matches. You don’t want to make them overthink in pressure situations.”
Shreyas even revealed that he told head coach Ricky Ponting to avoid team meetings altogether before the match.
“Today I literally told Ricky that let’s not do any team meetings. Let’s just head to the ground and do our rituals, which we’ve been doing consistently, and we could see the result.”