Mumbai, April 17
As Punjab Kings romped to a seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in Match 24 of Indian Premier League 2026 and surged to the top of the points table, skipper Shreyas Iyer singled out opener Prabhsimran Singh for his mature knock that made the win possible.
Chasing a challenging target of 196 built on a scintillating unbeaten century by Mumbai Indians opener Quinton de Kock (112*), PBKS were in trouble at 45/2 with Priyansh Arya (15) and Cooper Connolly (17) back in the dugout.
But Prabhsimran held the innings together, scored a well-controlled unbeaten 80 (39 b, 11x4, 2x6), his second successive half-century in IPL 2026, and shared a match-winning 139-run partnership with Iyer (66 off 35, 5x4, 4x6) to help the team romp to victory.
Iyer said Prabhsimran has matured a lot since last season and has raised the bar for his teammates.
"Prabhsimran has raised his bar, considering the last season, where he swung wildly, got runs and gave excellent starts. Now he's got maturity and finishing off games. He's maturing with each game," said Iyer in the post-match presentation.
He said the win was a result of team effort, and they will give the players confidence going forward.
"Confident and optimistic going forward. We've been playing phenomenally. We know each game is important; it's a collective effort, glad to have a comprehensive win," he said.
He jokingly pointed to the sensational catch, for which he laid the groundwork, to dismiss his opposite number, Hardik Pandya, as the turning point of the match. Iyer leapt high over the boundary rope, caught the ball by the tip of his left hand fingers, switched it to his right arm, and lobbed it over the boundary rope, all the while in the air. Xavier Bartlett completed the catch, even as Iyer celebrated in front of the crowd and near the MI dugout.
"My catch was the key to pulling things back (laughs), but we have the tendency to do that. Did that even against SRH! We have to be present and enjoy the moment. We haven't decided on how to set totals, lucky to have won tosses so far," said Iyer
The PBKS skipper said, "We have many positive players ready to go out there and express themselves. You need to keep getting better each game, focus on yourselves, and that's the recipe we've been following.
He also praised the huge crowd that had filled the stadium to watch the match. "I've seen crowds coming in numbers; the fan following is going high. Great to see fans showering their love," he said.
- IANS
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