Stop the clock. After losing 6 back to back games, Punjab Kings have finally found a way to win again in the Indian Premier League. Nearly a month after their last victory, the Kings dug deep and grinded out a crucial win to keep themselves alive in the playoffs race.

Playing against Rishabh Pant’s Lucknow Super Giants, Shreyas Iyer, the proverbial ‘Sarpanch’ of Punjab Kings, took it upon himself to guide the team to a much-needed victory, snapping their six-match losing streak in IPL 2026. With the win, Punjab completed their league-stage campaign with 15 points from 14 matches, keeping themselves in contention for the playoffs, just about.

LSG vs PBKS, IPL 2026: UPDATES | SCORECARD

Three spots have already been sealed this season, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans and SunRisers Hyderabad all finishing with 18 points. The fight for the final remaining playoff spot is now between Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab’s win on Saturday also officially knocked Delhi Capitals out of the race. DC have 12 points from 13 games and can no longer reach the minimum points tally required to break into the top four.

The win on Saturday, came after a lot of sacrifice. Jarred with on and off-field controversies, Punjab looked in a tough sport at the start of the game.

And like every good leader, Shreyas Iyer realised the need to step up and lead from the front, so that Punjab can come out of that limbo today. First, Shreyas was brilliant with his captaincy. When his premier bowler Arshdeep Singh sprayed runs all over the park at the Ekana Stadium on Saturday, Shreyas switched things and relied heavily on his bowling changes to pull the match back and restrict Lucknow to a target less than 200 runs.

And then came the chase. In the second innings, when an underconfident Punjab looked jittery at the start of the chase, Shreyas took matters into his own hands to guide Punjab over the line in a 197-run chase. The captain had to grind through the early phase of his innings after Punjab’s openers once again struggled inside the powerplay.

Priyansh Arya fell for a golden duck to Mohammed Shami in the very first over, while Prabhsimran Singh found it difficult to get going during the opening exchanges.

By the time Shreyas walked out to bat, alarm bells were already ringing in the Punjab dugout. It felt as though the lessons from the previous losses had not been learnt, and Punjab once again looked vulnerable to a collapse.

But Shreyas was not willing to let this one slip away.

The Punjab captain, who himself had struggled for fluency in the previous few matches, initially shielded Prabhsimran during the tougher phase of the chase, allowing the youngster time to settle on a slightly tricky Ekana surface.

Once the pitch eased out under lights, Prabhsimran began to free his arms and eventually brought up his fifty in just 28 balls, briefly taking the spotlight away from his captain.

But the final act belonged entirely to Shreyas.

The Punjab skipper exploded in the final overs of the chase, striking sixes with complete disdain, almost as if he wanted to remind everyone that his lean patch was only a temporary blip in form.

Batting on 95 not out in the 18th over with just three runs needed for victory, Shreyas backed himself to finish in style. Mohsin Khan missed his length ever so slightly, and Shreyas slogged the pacer high over cow corner to bring up his maiden IPL century.

The Punjab dugout erupted in relief.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Captain!

What a way to bring up a maiden #TATAIPL ton and seal victory

Scorecard https://t.co/2ADKr4dqhi#KhelBindaas | #LSGvPBKS | @PunjabKingsIPL pic.twitter.com/E3xXwyPQw2— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 23, 2026

Not only had the Kings managed to keep themselves alive in the playoffs race, but they had also found a way to win on a night where several things had not gone according to plan.

Punjab Kings will now turn their attention towards Rajasthan Royals’ clash against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday afternoon. If Rajasthan win, they will directly seal the fourth playoff spot.

But if Rajasthan lose, Punjab Kings will thank their lucky stars and fly back to Mullanpur for what would become a virtual knockout clash against SunRisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, May 27.

Earlier in the innings, Punjab Kings desperately needed a good start to set the tone for the game. It did not arrive, as Arshdeep Singh bowled a series of inexplicable deliveries and conceded 16 runs in the very first over. With stress written all over the faces of the Punjab support staff, Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai and South Africa’s Marco Jansen managed to pull the game back quickly.

Omarzai struck with the very first ball of the second over, dismissing Arshin Kulkarni, while Jansen removed Nicholas Pooran in the third over of the innings.

The beautiful thing about Saturday’s match at the Ekana Stadium was the way it ebbed and flowed throughout the first innings, with neither side truly managing to pull decisively ahead of the other.

After the early wickets, Ayush Badoni played a gem of a cameo, smashing 43 off just 18 balls and completely shifting the momentum once again. Both Omarzai and Jansen were taken apart in their second overs inside the powerplay as Badoni counterattacked fearlessly.

But just when Lucknow Super Giants looked set to build on that momentum, veteran Yuzvendra Chahal derailed the innings with a breakthrough in the seventh over.

Chahal has looked dangerous on surfaces offering even a little bit of assistance this season, and Saturday was no different. The leg-spinner got the better of Badoni after the batter made a schoolboy error by lifting his back foot outside the crease. Prabhsimran Singh reacted instantly behind the stumps and whipped the bails off in a flash, handing Punjab a desperately needed breakthrough.

A strange pattern developed through the innings after that. Almost every time Shreyas Iyer turned back to Arshdeep Singh, Punjab leaked runs. But the overs bowled immediately before and after Arshdeep’s spells were exceptionally controlled and disciplined.

Shashank Singh, who has often chipped in with key breakthroughs this season, bowled the 17th over in place of Arshdeep and produced a crucial wicket by dismissing Josh Inglis.

The Australian batter had raced to 72 off just 43 balls and looked capable of taking Lucknow well beyond the 220-run mark before Shashank broke the stand.

Punjab could perhaps have restricted Lucknow to an even lower total if not for Arshdeep’s final over. After Marco Jansen and Vijaykumar Vyshak had combined to concede just 10 runs in the 18th and 19th overs, Arshdeep undid some of that good work by leaking 17 runs in the final over of the innings.

But despite Arshdeep’s expensive outing, Punjab managed to hold their nerve and grind out a victory that truly mattered.

And often in tournaments like the IPL, these are the kinds of messy, hard-fought wins that end up rebooting a team’s confidence entirely.

If luck favours Punjab Kings over the weekend, they will sneak into the playoffs. And if they do, SunRisers Hyderabad would do well to be wary of them in the Eliminator.

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Source: India Today