Priyanka Tiwari
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In one of the most thrilling matches of IPL 2025, Punjab Kings achieved a historic record by defending the smallest total in league history: 111, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs. Both teams were all-out within 16 overs in what has become a low-scoring thriller at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.
Punjab Kings managed to score only 111 runs in their innings, and with their bowlers staging an incredible comeback and preventing KKR from surpassing 95 runs, they claimed a record-breaking win.
Match Highlights
Punjab Kings Innings: The team struggled with the bat, and could only manage 111 runs in 15.3 overs. Their bowlers did stage a comeback as KKR was restricted to 95. Prabhsimran Singh did his best scoring a quick 30 off 15 balls, but wicket after wicket kept falling.
KKR's Chase: With Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi building a 55-run partnership, Kolkata looked in control at 62/2. Their innings spectacularly fell apart as they lost the last 8 wickets for just 33 runs.
Bowling Brilliance Seals Victory
Yuzvendra Chahal was the standout performer with a 4 wicket haul for 28 runs. Marco Jansen aided him well, with 3 wickets for just 17 runs. Their disciplined bowling shifted the momentum completely in Punjab's favor.
Rahane on the Batting Performance
Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR captain, accepted that his side batted poorly, considering all the advantages that were at hand. He mentioned once again that the pitch was not bad, it was simply ignorance with respect to the game’s flow and poor strike rotation which caused them the game.
Rahane talked about the Communication issues regarding the review of the decision going against him stating that he did not receive proper communication with the partner he was batting with at that moment. He assumed all the blame as a captain and explained how things need to be fixed for the future.
In-Game decisions being evaluated
These types of choices have also been criticized in terms of lacking the accurate decision making for the selection of the squad in particular the case of not including Moeen Ali who could perform well on a friendly surface for spin bowling. Rahane further defended that on the basis of the assessment of the pitch, management has decided to go for three pacers which in the end backfired.
First significant record of Punjab Kings
This is going to be a monumental achievement for Punjab Kings by going deeper into the history books for setting a new IPL record for the lowest total defended successfully. It raises even bigger concerns towards the middle order of KKR in how they are going to deal with the pressure that comes with spin in the forthcoming matches.
