Punjab Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru by five wickets in a rain-hit match, with skipper Shreyas Iyer hailing IPL 2025’s unpredictable nature.
Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer expressed delight over the diversity of match situations in IPL 2025 after his side beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
“As they say, variety is the spice of life. We can experience all kinds of games over here. It is a great challenge. There was no thinking, to be honest. I was making instinctive moves, and obviously, we were getting wickets,” said Iyer at the post-match presentation.
Punjab delivered a clinical bowling performance to restrict RCB to just 95 in 14 overs. Despite a few stumbles during the chase, they crossed the finish line in 12.1 overs. Iyer credited Marco Jansen’s sharp spells for setting the tone. “I didn’t want the new batter to come in and settle straightaway. Marco was able to extract a little bit of bounce on this wicket. He was bowling lethally. He steadied the ship. And the rest of the bowlers helped him,” said Iyer.
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Reflecting on PBKS’ recent fixtures, Iyer said the unpredictable nature of the tournament has kept everyone on their toes. Punjab lost a high-scoring clash to Sunrisers Hyderabad despite posting 245, then bounced back to defend 111 against Kolkata Knight Riders, thanks to Yuzvendra Chahal’s four-for.
On Friday, with only 28 overs possible due to rain, Punjab once again held their nerve. “To be honest, we didn’t know how the wicket was going to play, and I feel the bowlers adapted according to it. When I had a chat with Arshdeep, he said that the hard length balls were very difficult to hit on this wicket because I didn’t see a single six off a fast bowler hit down the ground,” said Iyer. Punjab Kings next play Royal Challengers Bengaluru again on Sunday, April 20.
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