Ricky Ponting hails Yuzvendra Chahal’s epic spell as Punjab Kings defend lowest complete in IPL historical past.
5 matches, 2 wickets and an 11.13 economic system fee, Yuzvendra Chahal was not even near his greatest. He appeared out of contact, rhythm and depth. However Punjab Kings backed him. Had Ricky Ponting not backed him for the PBKS vs KKR match, they’d have been on the shedding facet as a result of it was Chahal’s magic spell that helped them defend the bottom complete in IPL historical past. Ponting revealed that Chahal had an harm and he simply handed a health check earlier than the match.
“How good a spell of bowling was that! He really had a health check earlier than the sport as we speak together with his shoulder harm he picked up within the final recreation and I grabbed him out of the warm-up and appeared him within the eye and stated, ‘Mate are you okay?’ He stated ‘Coach, I’m one hundred pc proper, let me on the market,” Ricky Ponting stated after the epic defence in Mullanpur.
Yuzvendra Chahal’s magic spell
After going for 1/56 within the match in opposition to Sunrisers Hyderabad, Yuzvendra Chahal was down in confidence. The Rs 18-crore spinner had a horrible outing in IPL 2025. With simply 111 runs on the board, Punjab Kings didn’t even give him an opportunity to redeem himself. However Chahal tunred the match on its head.
Chahal got here to bowl within the eighth over, with Kolkata Knight Riders’ win likelihood touching 97.81%. Within the fourth ball of the over, he trapped Ajinkya Rahane LBW. Whereas the replays confirmed that Rahane was not out however because the KKR captain opted to not assessment, the wicket stayed and that’s the place all of it went downhill.
He got here again for the tenth over, dismissing Angkrish Raghuvanshi who was batting on 37. With the flip he was getting from the floor, Chahal was tough to play. Regardless of taking two wickets, KKR have been nonetheless within the recreation with simply 40 runs to win. In between Maxwell trapped Venkatesh Iyer LBW.
As Yuzvendra Chahal got here again for the twelfth over, he put a leash on KKR with two wickets. First, he dismissed Rinku Singh, who was making an attempt to beat his flip and got here down the tracks, solely to be stumped. Within the subsequent supply, he eliminated Ramandeep Singh for a golden duck as he was caught within the slips by Shreyas Iyer. KKR went all the way down to 76/7.
“The guts fee continues to be up there. I’m 50 years outdated now and don’t want extra video games like these. Defending 112, with 16 runs up our sleeves. We really stated to the fellows on the midway mark that these actually small chases, like these, are typically the toughest,” Ponting stated.
‘Greatest win I ever had’
Whereas Andre Russell stored hopes alive with an 11-ball 17, Marco Jansen and Arshdeep Singh ensured KKR returned empty-handed. Punjab Kings gained the match in 15.1 overs as KKR folded for 95. Ponting referred to as it a season-defining match and one of the best win he ever had. If Ponting says this was one of the best win, one has to consider. Ponting had numerous wins in his worldwide profession as a participant and as a capain.
“Even when we had misplaced that recreation, I couldn’t have been happy with the way in which we went in regards to the second half. Wins like these are all the time the sweetest one, and when you can pull this off, then you have to be nearly as good a win as most guys have been concerned in, and I’ve coached numerous video games within the IPL, and that may simply be about one of the best win I ever had,” Ponting stated on the post-match.
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