Iyer's Unbeaten 101 Keeps PBKS Playoff Hopes Alive in IPL Thriller

"Iyer wanted to be one who made difference": PBKS assistant coach Haddin hails skipper after win over LSG

Lucknow, May 24

According to a press release, PBKS successfully kept their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 playoffs hopes alive after defeating Lucknow LSG by 7 wickets, with 12 balls to spare, on Saturday. Opting to bowl first, the Kings chased down the target of 197 runs, reclaiming their rhythm to firmly put themselves back in contention for the title fight.

After limiting LSG to 196/6, skipper Iyer's spectacular, unbeaten 101, alongside an anchoring 69 off 39 balls from Prabhsimran Singh, guided PBKS over the line as they put 200/3 on the board by the end of the 18th over.

Lauding Iyer for his captain's knock, Haddin said, as quoted by a press release from the franchise, "In these matches, you want your best players to stand up. These are the matches where everything is on the line. For the last couple of days, the captain had that look in his eye. He wanted to be the one who made the difference and turned things around, and he gave us an opportunity to play in the finals. You got a long way to see a better inning and a better captain's knock than that."

He further added, "He wanted to be the one to make the difference, and that is what you want from your leaders, whether it's for IPL or for your country. You want your leaders owning those big moments, and that is what he did."

The coach also praised the squad's comprehensive, all-round display, highlighting how early dominance from the bowling unit set a clinical tone that the batters capitalised on during the chase.

"If you have a look through the whole game, we did well to get wickets to start. It is important to get wickets up front in power play. I thought our bowlers did a really good job there. Azmatullah did a really good job. And then Prabh and the captain with the bat were outstanding. Prabh took a smart stumping. As an ex-keeper, I was proud of him there, but he set up the inning beautifully," the assistant coach noted.

Haddin also expressed immense pride in the team's ability to deliver under extreme pressure in their final league fixture, while also recognising the role of external results in the team's future in the tournament this season.

"We had to play this game the way we did tonight under pressure to give ourselves an opportunity. Now we have to wait for other results for us to go on, and that's our own doing. But tonight, we had to find a way to get out of that slump, and we did. I think, like any coaching staff, you have to identify moments where we needed to get better, and that's what we have done, " he commented.

He further added, "There are moments through all those six games where we were in those contests for a long time. A lot of those games went to the last over and a couple to the last ball, where we were close, but we just probably weren't identifying those big moments as quick as the opposition and they were better than us in those moments. But tonight, we had to turn it around to give ourselves a chance. We're proud of what the players did tonight to give us an opportunity to advance in the tournament."

With this final league stage victory, Punjab Kings have climbed to the fourth spot on the points table with 15 points, with their playoff qualification now hinging entirely on the final league clash between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians.

— ANI