Punjab Kings (PBKS) signed off their league-stage marketing campaign in type with a dominant seven-wicket victory over Lucknow Tremendous Giants (LSG) in Match 68 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. Chasing a difficult goal of 197, PBKS rode on an impressive unbeaten century from captain Shreyas Iyer to finish the chase in simply 18 overs and proceed their spectacular run within the event.
After successful the toss and opting to bowl first, Punjab Kings had been put beneath stress early by a superb innings from Josh Inglis and a late assault from Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad. Nevertheless, regardless of Lucknow posting a aggressive 196/6, PBKS responded in emphatic style with aggressive batting all through the chase.
Josh Inglis leads LSG’s batting effort
Lucknow Tremendous Giants had a shaky begin as Arshin Kulkarni departed for a duck within the very first over. Nicholas Pooran additionally didn’t make an affect, falling cheaply for simply two runs, leaving the house aspect beneath stress contained in the powerplay. Josh Inglis then steadied the innings with a cultured knock of 72 off 44 deliveries. The Australian wicketkeeper-batter blended aggression with composure and struck 9 boundaries together with two sixes to maintain the scoreboard shifting. He discovered helpful help from skipper Rishabh Pant, who chipped in with 26 runs off 22 balls.
The innings obtained a significant increase within the latter half due to Ayush Badoni’s explosive cameo. The younger batter smashed 43 runs off solely 18 balls, hammering 5 fours and three sixes to shift momentum again in the direction of Lucknow. Abdul Samad additionally performed a vital hand with a 20-ball 37 that included three fours and three maximums.
Punjab Kings managed to drag issues again barely within the dying overs. Marco Jansen impressed with figures of two/33, whereas Yuzvendra Chahal as soon as once more showcased his expertise by claiming two wickets and conceding solely 25 runs in his 4 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai and Shashank Singh additionally chipped in with a wicket every as LSG completed on 196/6.
Shreyas Iyer’s masterclass stuns LSG
Punjab Kings suffered an early setback within the chase when Priyansh Arya was dismissed for a golden duck by Mohammad Shami. Nevertheless, that was the one second of pleasure for Lucknow in an in any other case one-sided chase. Prabhsimran Singh counterattacked brilliantly and took the stress off PBKS with a fluent 69 off 39 deliveries. He smashed seven fours and two sixes whereas including fast runs through the powerplay. Cooper Connolly additionally performed a useful knock of 18 from simply 10 balls earlier than falling to Mohammed Shami.
The night, although, belonged completely to Shreyas Iyer. The PBKS skipper produced one of many best knocks of the season, remaining unbeaten on 101 off simply 51 balls. Iyer dominated the bowling assault with elegant strokeplay and fearless hitting, smashing 11 fours and 5 sixes throughout his sensational innings.
He paced the chase completely and ensured Punjab Kings by no means misplaced management of the competition. Suryansh Shedge remained unbeaten on 9 as PBKS crossed the end line with two overs to spare.
One of many main speaking factors of the match was the IPL debut of Arjun Tendulkar for Lucknow Tremendous Giants. The left-arm pacer managed to select up his maiden wicket within the event when he dismissed Prabhsimran. Arjun additionally contributed with the bat, scoring 5 runs through the remaining overs of the LSG innings. Though the younger pacer conceded 36 runs in his 4 overs, the wicket marked a memorable private milestone in his debut look.
The convincing win gave Punjab Kings a significant confidence increase heading into the knockout stage of IPL 2026. Their batting unit regarded fearless, whereas the bowlers did sufficient to limit Lucknow beneath the 200-run mark on a batting-friendly floor. For Lucknow Tremendous Giants, it was one other disappointing outing in a season stuffed with inconsistency. Regardless of sturdy particular person performances from Inglis and Badoni, their bowling assault struggled to comprise the PBKS batters through the chase.
Additionally READ: Fans react as Arjun Tendulkar makes his much-awaited debut for LSG in IPL 2026 clash against PBKS
Right here’s how followers reacted:
Glorious 💯 by Shreyas Iyer in a should win recreation. Captain main from the entrance 👏👏#ShreyasIyer #PBKSvsLSG
— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) May 23, 2026
Maiden Century for Shreyas Iyer in IPL 👏👏#ShreyasIyer #LSGvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/C3XlPj8UQ6
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) May 23, 2026
High quality chase by Punjab & Shreyas Iyer. @ShreyasIyer15 is a first-rate instance of how these elite gamers make small little
Changes if bowlers are attempting to work them out and bowls at specific size.As we speak Shreyas was not withdrawing his entrance leg on wanting size… pic.twitter.com/1qSaCkfkj3
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 23, 2026
ICE COLD FINISH BY SARPANCH SAAB. 🥶
– The celebration from Shreyas Iyer says all of it. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ldEucoHrVa
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 23, 2026
🚨 SHREYAS IYER HAS COMPLETED 3000 RUNS AS CAPTAIN IN IPL HISTORY 🚨
– One of many Greatest in IPL Historical past! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/cjC7BTjGkQ
— Tanuj (@ImTanujSingh) May 23, 2026
Maiden IPL century by Shreyas Iyer!
And that too in a should win recreation!🔥
The place are his haters right now? pic.twitter.com/UIQB834IZJ
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) May 23, 2026
Have a look at the feelings of Shreyas Iyer after smashing his maiden IPL HUNDRED 🥺🔥pic.twitter.com/Yuvf7uQkPX
— Jara (@JARA_Memer) May 23, 2026
Cometh the hour, cometh the person!
Shreyas will get his staff throughout the road and retains them alive!— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 23, 2026
Shreyas Iyer has all the time been criticized by Indian followers that he would not rating runs when openers fail, right now it was actually 21-2 and the way in which Shreyas Iyer performed, deserves to be appreciated.
He’s the participant who helped us to win Champions Trophy 2025 by his batting, who helped… pic.twitter.com/OnpTohp0oF
— Soman. (@Shreyasian96) May 23, 2026
PBKS owe it to Shreyas Iyer and Prabhsimran however their BP will stay excessive the subsequent 24 hours:
PBKS will qualify if RR and KKR lose tomorrow.
PBKS will nonetheless qualify if RR lose and KKR win – until KKR win by a margin of 78 or extra or if KKR chase down no matter DC units them in…— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) May 23, 2026
Shreyas Iyer is coming for revenge
What a wonderful knock shreyyyy 🩷— मृणमयी 🌺🌸 (@mrnamayi55575) May 23, 2026
Captain Shreyas Iyer — 27 CR for a cause 🔥🔥
Sarpanch Saab delivering when it issues most.😎#LSGvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/rU8vKPxA1C— Navya (@Navyavibes_) May 23, 2026
First IPL 💯. Batting of highest high quality 👏👏. Take a bow 🙏, Shreyas Iyer.#LSGvPBKS #PBKS #TATAIPL #ShreyasIyer pic.twitter.com/UNibaOPrsh
— Gurbinder Kaur (@GKS_18) May 23, 2026
FIRST WIN IN 7 MATCHES FOR PBKS
A LONG WAIT COMES TO AN END WITH A BIG PERFORMANCE
CAPTAIN SHREYAS IYER LEADS FROM THE FRONT THE HERO OF THE NIGHT 🫡 pic.twitter.com/LWTYtDMHfC
— Dhiraj (@dhiraj01_) May 23, 2026
THIS IS A SHREYAS IYER APPRECIATION POST pic.twitter.com/ybHVm0guLn
— 𝓪𝓷𝓶𝓸𝓵 ✨ (@Molu_k12) May 23, 2026
Shreyas Iyer, match successful hundred 💯
4th Playoffs staff determined final day 🥶
RR or PBKS, KKR 🥵 #LSGvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/NbR8ZchfDE— Ajay Kudecha (@ajay_kudecha) May 23, 2026
Additionally WATCH: Yuzvendra Chahal gets pumped up after removing Rishabh Pant during LSG vs PBKS IPL 2026 clash
