Shreyas Iyer's first IPL century lifts PBKS past LSG and leaves Sunday's MI-RR to decide their season
Punjab Kings finally broke their six-match losing streak in the last possible game of the IPL 2026 league stage, and they did it with their captain announcing himself. Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 101 off 51 balls at Ekana on Saturday night, a long-awaited maiden IPL century, carried PBKS to a seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants with 12 balls to spare. The 15 points it brings them is not enough on its own. Sunday’s Mumbai Indians game against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede will now decide whether Punjab squeeze into the eliminator or sit out the playoffs entirely.
Inglis and Pant pile up 196 at Ekana
Lucknow had nothing left to play for, eliminated days ago, and they still produced one of their better totals of the season. Josh Inglis dragged them there. The Australian wicketkeeper hit 72 off 44 balls, nine fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 163.64, and added 65 with Rishabh Pant in a partnership that bridged the middle overs. Inglis fell to Shashank Singh after the partnership had done most of its damage, and Abdul Samad’s late hand pushed LSG to 196 for 6. Marco Jansen finished with 1 for 29 in his four overs, the most disciplined return on the night.
Mohammed Shami opens with a first-ball wicket and a second over scalp
Punjab’s chase began with as bad an over as a captain can hand his opener. Mohammed Shami’s first delivery, a sharp bouncer that hurried into Priyansh Arya, had the PBKS opener gone for a duck. Shami returned in his second over and dismissed Cooper Connolly for 18 off 10. Inside the powerplay, with two early wickets down, the chase looked one fall short of unravelling. Iyer walked in and refused to play the situation.
Iyer and Prabhsimran turn the chase around
Prabhsimran Singh did the early acceleration. The opener hit 69 off 39 balls, brought up his fifty in 28, and his exit, lbw off Arjun Tendulkar, did not slow the chase down because Iyer had already settled. The PBKS captain reached his fifty in 33 balls and kept compounding from there. He targeted Mohsin Khan in particular through the death overs, and the six over cow corner off the LSG left-armer that brought up his hundred also won the match. Iyer has captained Punjab through a season that nearly slid out from under them. He found the innings the team needed on the one night the team could not afford anything less.
What it means for Sunday and the playoff seat
PBKS finish their 14-game league stage on 15 points. The fourth seat is now Rajasthan Royals’ to take. Rajasthan sit on 14 points from 13 games, and a win at Wankhede on Sunday afternoon against Mumbai Indians lifts them to 16 and locks the eliminator place against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Lose, and Rajasthan stay on 14 while Punjab climb in on net run rate. There is no other route now. Punjab have done all they can do in Lucknow, and a Mumbai team already on the way home are the unlikely arbiters of how Iyer’s hundred is remembered.
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