PBKS VS KKR, IPL 2025 Highlights: Punjab Kings win low-scoring thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders

Here are five of the lowest totals defended in the history of the Indian Premier League, with Punjab Kings featuring in this list twice:

111 – PBKS vs KKR, Mullanpur, 2025
116/9 – CSK vs PBKS, Durban, 2009
118 – SRH vs MI, Mumbai WS, 2018
119/8 – PBKS vs MI, Durban, 2009
119/8 – SRH vs PWI, Pune, 2013

Russell chops the ball onto the stumps off Jansen’s bowling at the start of the 16th over as Kolkata Knight Riders are bundled out for 95! And with that, Punjab Kings defend the lowest total in the history of the IPL!

Russell’s is left distraught at the centre, barely able to come to terms with the fact that he came so close to getting his team over the line. The Punjab Kings players and their fans, on the other hand, are delirious with joy! And why wouldn’t they be, given how poor their record has been at their new home ground in Mullanpur as well as their stunning defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue on Saturday.

What an over from Arshdeep Singh! After bowling five consecutive dots to Vaibhav Arora, the left-arm pacer gets the tail-ender caught-behind with a snorter after switching to round-the-wicket in the final delivery of the over! Proper Test match stuff this!

Anrich Nortje joins Dre Russ at the centre, with the latter standing between PBKS and a famous win! KKR 95/9 after 15

KKR were never out of the contest so long as Andre Russell was at the centre, and the hard-hitting West Indian all-rounder smashes Yuzvendra Chahal for 16 in his final over of the evening to reduce KKR’s equation to 17 off 36!

Russell goes inside out over wide long off in the second delivery, nearly resulting in a catch for Marco Jansen at the edge of the boundary, and hammers the ball cleanly over wide long on two balls later. Russell collects a four in the very next ball, lofting the ball cleanly over cover.

Chahal signs off with 4/28 from four, his spell playing a key role in bringing Punjab Kings back into the game. KKR 95/8 after 14

The KKR ‘Impact Sub’ perishes after getting a thick leading edge, which results in a catch for Bartlett near backward point. Just when Punjab’s hopes were starting to fade away, Chahal brings them back into the contest with a couple of quick wickets.

KKR reach 72/4 at the halfway stage of the chase, and need another 40 to win off 60 balls. However, they’ll jump to the top of the points table if they can knock off those runs in 25 balls or fewer.

Rahane has a quick chat with his batting partner Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and decides against taking the review. Had he made the ‘T’ sign, he could still have been batting as the Hawk-Eye replay shows the ball hitting him on his hip with the impact outside off.

PBKS, meanwhile, commit another fielding blooper later in Chahal’s first over with the ball slipping out of Xavier Bartlett’s hand just when he was attempting to throw the ball towards the centre after collecting the ball cleanly near deep backward square leg.

And because he had collected the ball, five overthrows are awarded to the batting side instead of a boundary. The dew at the Mullanpur stadium can be the only plausible explanation for the bizarre incident. KKR 68/3 after 8

Rahane collects the first maximum of the evening at the start of the final over of the powerplay by lofting the ball straight down the ground towards the sight screen.

Three balls later, Raghuvanshi helps himself to a maximum with a flick over deep midwicket. He then ends the over with a boundary as 19 runs are added to the KKR total in the sixth over. KKR 55/2 after 6!

Shashank gives the ball a chase from cover after a drive by Raghuvanshi pierces the gap on the off side. He pulls the ball back just short of the boundary, only for the ball to roll back towards the cushion.

Four leg byes added to the KKR total later in the over after the ball brushes Raghuvanshi’s pad and beats the keeper to his left, running all the way to the fence. Not an ideal start for Arshdeep Singh after he is introduced in place of another left-arm pacer in Jansen. KKR 36/2 after 5

De Kock perishes while looking to collect the first maximum of the evening, getting caught by Suryansh Shedge at the edge of the deep backward square leg boundary! He departs for a disappointing 2 off 4 balls as PBKS suddenly ignite hopes of turning this game into a low-scoring thriller!

Impact Sub Angkrish Raghuvanshi, meamwhile, makes his way to the centre and is off the mark with a streaky boundary as he slices the ball behind square, nearly resulting in a second catch for Shedge in as many balls at the edge of the boundary. KKR 12/2 after 2

And it’s the crucial wicket of Shashank Singh (18 off 17) that he gets, trapping the explosive batter LBW with a full delivery aimed along the stumps.

Shashank, who missed the ball completely while shaping for a flick goes for the review more out of hope than anything else, and gets the marching orders in no time. PBKS 109/9

Punjab Kings are bowled out for 111 in 15.3 overs after skipper Shreyas Iyer opts to bat, as Kolkata Knight Riders produce another stellar bowling performance for the second time in as many games.

The defending champions had on Friday restricted Chennai Super Kings to 103/9, and would cruise to an eight-wicket victory in that game. And with the wicket in Mullanpur being a batting-friendly one, KKR are in pole position to collect two wins in as many outings!

The pressure was continuing to mount for the Kings with Varun and Narine conceding four runs each in the 12th and 13th over. Hard-hitting middle-order batter Shashank’s presence, however, gives Punjab hope of finishing near the 150-mark or even past it, and giving the bowling unit a lot more cushion.

Varun concedes four singles besides the six as he signs off with figures of 2/21 after four overs. Timeout signalled at the end of the over. PBKS 104/8 after 14

Nehal Wadhera and Glenn Maxwell begin a steady rebuild of the PBKS innings after the powerplay, collecting four runs in Sunil Narine’s first over and eight in Rana’s third over, with Maxwell helping himself to his first boundary.

Wadhera, however, perishes just when he was starting to accelerate with back-to-back boundaries off Anrich Nortje, mishitting a short ball towards deep square leg where Venkatesh Iyer latches on to a simple catch. Timeout signalled after the dismissal. PBKS 74/5 after 8.4

Prabhsimran gives the PBKS fans in Mullanpur a reminder of the fact that he’s just as destructive, as he smashes Arora for two fours and a six at the start of the third over.

The first one, though, nearly results in a catch at short third off an attempted scoop. Prabhsimran responds by collecting the first maximum of the innings in the following ball, dispatching a full delivery over deep midwicket. Arya helps himself to a boundary in the penultimate ball of the over before retaining the strike with a single off the last ball. PBKS 33/0 after 3

Playing XI: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(wk), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Subs: Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey

Playing XI: Quinton de Kock(wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy

Uthappa names Australian seamers Xavier Bartlett and Aaron Hardie as the ideal replacements for New Zealand speedster Ferguson, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the season, when presented the question on Star Sports’ broadcast.

Boucher goes with Hardie, who also happens to be a useful batting option down the order.

Here’s rising star Arya, who struck a 39-ball ton against CSK in Mullanpur, having a hit in the nets ahead of the home game against KKR.

Priyansh '𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐘' Arya! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/5dDu6EQ1ba

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 15, 2025

The Punjab Kings captain, after all, will be up against the franchise that he had captained to their third title last year, only to find himself released into the auction pool due to KKR’s decision to retain both Andre Russell and Sunil Narine as well as the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy.

Iyer will have a hearty reunion with his former teammates before the match, but might just have that extra dose of motivation once the game gets underway.

New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the remainder of the season due to an injury, having hobbled off during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, dealing a massive blow to Punjab Kings’ hopes of challenging for their maiden IPL title this season.

Though they will miss his express pace, the Shreyas Iyer-led side have options to fill the void with Jason Behrendorff and Mustafizur Rahman in the reserves. Both, however, are left-arm quicks and with Arshdeep Singh already an integral part of the pace unit, it remains to be seen if the franchise heads in that direction.

Alternatively, they could sign a player from the list of players who went unsold in the mega auction in November the way Lucknow Super Giants signed Shardul Thakur as a replacement for Mohsin Khan.

Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull certainly believes so, with the Australian all-rounder having scored just 34 runs in five outings this season, taking three wickets along the way.

“I think Maxwell has had his run. I mean, just the way he’s getting out at the moment, it would frustrate me as a coach. That’s the disappointing thing, I think, from their point of view. So Omarzai’s in for him, Inglis in for him, would be something I’d probably look at,” Doull said on Cricbuzz ahead of the PBKS-KKR game.

“Being picked by KKR has changed everything for me. I still remember that practice match at our pre-season camp before last year’s IPL. We needed six runs off two balls, and I cleared the ropes to win the game. GG (Gautam Gambhir) had a long chat with me afterwards,” Ramandeep was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.

“The first thing he told me was: ‘we’ll back you no matter what’. And I’m glad I was able to back his belief. To be able to get to where I am, a lot of work has gone behind the scenes, and KKR has played a huge part. Abhishek Nayar conducted sessions tirelessly in Thane, where he’d make me bat three hours at one go in the nets at times. I’d never batted that long – nets or match.

“It helped me open up my game. I had power, but training with him taught me how to channel that power. And it helped me in the domestic season as well. It kicked in a lot of self-belief. There was an attitude shift in me, the fear element went away because of the backing. After last year’s IPL, I did well at Sher-e-Punjab and for India A,” added the middle-order batter.

After calling the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali their home for 15 years, Punjab Kings moved to a new home in 2024 – the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur near Chandigarh.

Here’s how they have performed at the venue since:

2024

– Defeated DC by 4 wickets

– Lost to SRH by 2 runs

– Lost to RR by 3 wickets

– Lost to MI by 9 runs

– Lost to GT by 3 wickets

2025

– Lost to RR by 50 runs

– Defeated CSK by 18 runs