In what could be recalled as one of the most exciting matches in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kings coach of the Kings of Punjab (PBKS), Ricky Ponting, praised the spirit and the resilience of his team after having succeeded in an unlikely 16-point victory on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), successful IPL. By defending 112, PBKS launched the title champions for 95 in 15.1 Overs in Mullanpur. A phenomenal bowling effort, led by Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen, turned the table after a bad stick performance.
“The heart rate is still up there. I am 50 years old now and I don’t need more games like these,” admitted Ponting after the match.
“Defend 112, with 16 runners. The sleeves. We have told guys halfway that these really small things, like these, are sometimes the most difficult,” he added.
Ponting recognized the nature of the counter, which made the scoring difficult throughout the game.
“The counter was not easy because you can see it throughout the game, it was definitely standing,” he said.
“But what about Chahal tonight? How good was a bowling alley!” He added.
He revealed that Chahal was fighting against a shoulder injury before the match and had to pass a fitness test before being allowed to play.
“He did a fitness test before the match today with his shoulder injury he resumed in the last match, and I caught him in heating and I looked him in the eyes and I said:” Mate, are you okay? “He said:” Coach, I’m right 100%, leave me there “. Yeah, what a bowling alley!” Noted.
Despite their difficulties with the bat, Ponting underlined the pride he felt by looking at the team retaliated with the ball.
“Even if we had lost this match, I could not have been more proud of the way we made the second half. Our striker was poor – the selection and execution of shots – it was all poor. But when I saw us take the field and we had the counters early, which we lack tonight,” he added.
He also suggested that this victory could be a turning point in the Punjab season.
“So, if we had fallen very close, I would have said to the guys who was actually a decisive moment of the season-and it could now be too. To be able to dig deeply and win a game like that, I think of halfway, there were not too many people in the world who thought we could have defended him-and we had a credit to all boys. They were terrifying this evening.”
Ponting also talked about the tactical changes that worked in favor of PBKS.
“The way we changed things with the ball, Marco taking the first and Bartlett taking the second. It would only have been a role for Arshdeep with the brand new ball, but the matches tonight suggested that Jansen and Bartlett are better suited. So we had to change there a little,” he noted.
In conclusion, the veteran coach, who saw countless dramatic matches in IPL, recognized the emotional magnitude of this victory.
“Victories like these are always the softest. And if you can succeed, then it should be a victory as good as most guys have been involved. I have trained a lot of games in IPL, and it could well be the best victory I have ever had,” he said.
Coming to the match, PBKS won the draw and chose to beat first. Priyansh Arya (22 in 12 balls, with three four and one six) and Prabhsimran Singh (30 in 15 balls, with two four and three) gave PBKS fiery start with a 39 -point stand. However, a PowerPlay spell by Harshit Rana (3/25) and a fantastic alignment of Ramandeep Singh pushed them to 54/4 at the end of the power game. Narine (2/14) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/21) dominated the subsequent stages of the sleeves, not leaving the PBKs to deposit, gathering them for 111 in 15.3 Overs.
During the racing race, the pbks quarrels waged a brilliant fight, with the Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4/28) and Marco Jansen (3/17) delivering spells that turned the match on his head. Despite the fighting blows by Angkrish Raghuvanshi (37 in 28 balls, with five four and one six) and Andre Russell (17 balls in 11, with four and two), KKR was grouped for 95 in 15.1 Overs, losing the match by 16 points.
PBKS is in fourth place, with four victories and two defeats, with eight points. KKR is in sixth place, with three victories and four defeats, which gave them six points.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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