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Punjab Kings snapped their six-match losing streak in emphatic style as captain Shreyas Iyer hammered a magnificent unbeaten century to guide his side to a crushing seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants and keep their IPL 2026 playoff hopes alive. Chasing 197 at the Ekana Stadium, Punjab recovered from an early wobble to comfortably reach 200/3 in just 18 overs. Shreyas led the charge with a sensational 101 not out off 51 balls, registering his maiden IPL hundred, while Prabhsimran Singh played the perfect supporting role with a blistering 69 off 39 deliveries. The duo stitched together a match-defining 140-run partnership for the third wicket after Punjab had slipped into early trouble. Mohammed Shami struck immediately by dismissing Priyansh Arya for a first-ball duck before also removing Cooper Connolly to leave PBKS under pressure. However, Shreyas showed remarkable composure and quickly took control of the chase. The PBKS skipper dominated both pace and spin with a mix of elegant drives, powerful pulls and trademark flicks through the leg side. He especially targeted spinner Digvesh Rathee, collecting boundaries regularly to shift momentum completely in Punjab’s favour. Prabhsimran, who survived chances on 20 and 62, kept the scoreboard moving fluently and brought up his sixth fifty of the season in just 26 balls. Shreyas reached his own half-century in 33 deliveries before accelerating dramatically. His second fifty came in only 18 balls as he switched gears effortlessly in the death overs. Although Prabhsimran eventually fell lbw to Arjun Tendulkar, Punjab never looked under pressure again. Fittingly, Shreyas sealed both his century and the victory with a six off Mohsin Khan. Earlier in the innings, he had also smashed Shami for three sixes in a single over to complete a dominant chase. The victory lifted Punjab to fourth place on the points table with 15 points from 14 matches. However, their playoff qualification is still dependent on other results. Rajasthan Royals, currently on 14 points, face Mumbai Indians on Sunday, and PBKS will need Rajasthan to lose that match to stay in the playoff spots. Kolkata Knight Riders also remain mathematically alive with 13 points and could still challenge Punjab on net run rate if results go in their favour. Earlier, LSG posted 196/6 after strong contributions from Josh Inglis and Ayush Badoni. Inglis produced a counter-attacking 72 off 42 balls, while Badoni smashed 43 from only 18 deliveries in an entertaining partnership that revived Lucknow after early setbacks. Badoni launched a brutal attack on Azmatullah Omarzai, taking 24 runs from one over with a sequence of 4, 6, 6 and 4 as LSG raced to 66/2 in the powerplay despite losing Arshin Kulkarni and Nicholas Pooran early. Badoni’s innings ended after a sharp stumping by Prabhsimran off Yuzvendra Chahal, with DRS confirming the dismissal. Inglis then switched gears again and punished Arshdeep Singh with a flurry of boundaries and sixes. Rishabh Pant contributed 26 off 21 balls and shared a 65-run stand with Inglis, although the LSG skipper never looked fully fluent despite being dropped on 18 by Shreyas off Chahal’s bowling. Chahal eventually removed Pant and later Inglis fell to part-time spinner Shashank Singh after finding Shreyas at long-on. Abdul Samad added a late unbeaten 37 off 20 balls, but once Marco Jansen dismissed Mukul Choudhary cheaply, Lucknow’s hopes of crossing the 200-run mark faded away.
