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Punjab Kings won a crucial toss in their must-win IPL 2026 clash against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium and elected to field first as they attempt to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. PBKS come into the contest under immense pressure after six consecutive defeats completely derailed what once looked like a top-two campaign. Back on April 25, Punjab were comfortably sitting at the top of the table with 13 points from seven games, but a dramatic slump in form has pushed them into a desperate fight for survival. Captain Shreyas Iyer admitted the high stakes surrounding the contest after choosing to chase. “We will bowl first. Two changes – Marco and Vyshak are in. Feeling is exciting, I would say it’s a do or die match for us. We have never been in this situation before and the boys are waiting to do their best.” Punjab’s qualification equation remains complicated. They not only need a victory tonight, preferably by a convincing margin, but also require favourable results elsewhere, including Rajasthan Royals dropping points and Kolkata Knight Riders failing to improve their net run rate significantly. For Lucknow, the season has already slipped away, but captain Rishabh Pant said his side still wants to finish strongly despite a difficult campaign. “We would have bowled first as well. This wicket is good for cricket regardless of bowling or batting. This is one of the better batting wicket, it could be a high scoring match. Two changes – Arjun and Arshin Kulkarni are in. It’s been a tough season, but at the same time, there has been a lot of learning, both for the team and personally. II’d say sorry for the fans, they have come from all over UP. It’s been tough going for us, but we’ll give our 100% today.“ Lucknow have also been hit hard by availability issues, with Mitchell Marsh missing tonight’s fixture alongside already absent overseas players Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke and Anrich Nortje. Marsh’s absence is particularly significant considering the Australian opener has scored 563 runs this season and formed a destructive opening partnership with Josh Inglis in recent games.Teams:Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Josh Inglis, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Arjun Tendulkar, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Mohsin KhanPunjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal With Punjab’s season hanging by a thread and Lucknow looking to end on a positive note, the stakes remain high in Match 68 of IPL 2026.
