Punjab Kings (PBKS) were flying high. They had won 5 of their 7 matches. A loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) disrupted them, and then a washed-out game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) saw them slump to the fifth spot on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 points table.
10 days later, the Shreyas Iyer-led team is back on track. PBKS have beaten the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium and leapfrogged Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians to move to the second place on the points table.
Shreyas Iyer plays captain’s knock at Chepauk
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer led the 191-run chase from the front. As usual, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave them a rollicking start. When Shreyas arrived in the middle, 44 were already scored in 4.4 overs. Prabhsimran had been playing second fiddle and took charge as Shreyas looked to get his eye in.
By the 10th over, both were set. PBKS needed just 101 runs. Given they have 9 wickets in hand and the fact that they bat until number 10, they were on course to chase the total down. Prabhsimran and Shreyas continued until the 13th over. The wicketkeeper batter scored another half-century, his third of the IPL 2025 season, and when he departed, PSBK needed just 75 runs.
Shreyas continued to take the match forward. He scored his fifty in the 14th over, and although Nehal Wadhera departed, he wasn’t fazed. He took Matheesha Pathirana down in the 17th over, and Shashank Singh went after Noor Ahmad and Ravindra Jadeja. From needing 52 runs in 5 overs, PBKS now needed 6 runs from 2 overs. Shashank departed, but Josh Inglis stayed in the middle, but Shreyas departed while going for the glory shot.
CSK somehow took the match to the last over. Suryansh Shedge skied the ball, and the equation became 1 run needed from 4 balls. Eventually, PBKS beat CSK by 5 wickets with 3 balls in hand.
CSK’s hope for IPL 2025 Playoffs qualification ends
MS Dhoni and co. needed to win each match to have a chance to qualify for the IPL 2025 Playoffs. With 5 matches, including the PBKS clash, CSK could at best win 7 matches and end at 14 points. Since the IPL became a 10-team tournament in 2022, only once has a team ended with 14 points and still qualified.
But this meant there was some hope. But now that PBKS has beaten them, CSK’s hopes have ended. Even if they win their remaining 4 matches, they can’t gain more than 12 points. Five teams already have equal or more points and would surely get more wins with 21 group stage matches still left in IPL 2025.
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