A valiant effort from Arshdeep Singh with him requiring six runs to defend off the last over, took just one poor delivery off the final delivery to hand a visible dent to Punjab Kings’ chances of reserving a berth in the IPL 2023 playoffs.
Advertisement
It were the three Sixes hit by Andre Russell during the penultimate over of the Kolkata Knight Riders chase which had all but sealed the deal for them at their home ground tonight, and it was Rinku Singh who yet again scored the winning boundary, with two runs required off the final ball.
Tonight’s loss has meant that Punjab Kings have slipped down to the seventh spot in the points table, with 5 wins and 6 losses off 11 matches.
Can Punjab Kings Still Qualify for IPL 2023 Playoffs?
Considering 16 points as the required figure in order to qualify for the playoffs (RCB had finished 4th last year with 16 points), PBKS have now entered into the must-win territory, where one more loss might well end their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs in the ongoing season.
The smallest positive for them is that as many as five teams (including them) are tied on 10 points each, but the depressing part is that they have a negative Net Run Rate (-0.441) at present.
Thus, while they will not only have to win their remaining three matches, they will have to end on the right side of the result with a huge margin as well, to finish amongst the top-4 teams at the end of the league stage (with 16 points).
Punjab Kings remaining league matches
Punjab will next play against the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, on May 13 (Sunday).
They will play the remaining two league matches at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, against the Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, on May 17 (Wednesday) and May 19 (Friday) respectively.
