Chahal’s spell pulls off a thriller

Yuzvendra Chahal returned with career-best tournament figures of 4-28 while pacer Marco Jansen picked three scalps to stage a thrilling 16-run win for Punjab Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2025 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium Tuesday.

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Punjab bowlers bowled with a plethora of courage to pull off a thriller as they defended the lowest total in the IPL’s history.

Earlier, Harshit Rana claimed three wickets while the spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine bagged two scalps each to bundle out Punjab Kings for 111 in 15.3 overs.

Chasing 112, Kolkata lost both their openers Sunil Narine (5) and Quinton de Kock (2) in quick intervals as Marco Jansen and debutant Xavier Bartlett gave the early breakthroughs to Punjab.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi took a cautious approach and steered the side to 55/2 at the end of the powerplay. The duo stitched a 60-run partnership as the KKR were looking confident to win the match.

However, Yuzvendra Chahal brought Punjab back into the game with the wicket of Rahane (17) in the eighth over. Chahal, in his next over, sent Raghuvanshi back to the pavilion. He scored 37 including five fours and a six after coming as an impact substitute.