The Punjab Kings were an Indian Premier League example in resilience. They aggressively defended the lowest aggregate score ever recorded in the tournament’s history, marking an incredible feat as the first team to ever do so. A tense win against the Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs at Mullanpur gave them their breakthrough. It happened during the time of the Kings’ new record for most runs—111—scored in a match. They broke the previous record, held by Chennai Super Kings, who defended 116 runs against Punjab in 2009.
The final few minutes of the match played out in a breathtaking fashion. Once 39 runs without a wicket down, Punjab Kings collapsed to be all out for a mere 111 in 15.3 overs. This huge drop in performance was their largest factor dragging down their total so low. Angkrish Raghuvanshi was the standout performer with the bat, scoring 37. He was the fourth man to fall, caught at backward point by Yuzvendra Chahal, who starred for Punjab with 4–28.
Kolkata Knight Riders started their chase strongly and at 72-3 the match looked firmly in their favour. The game would take a dramatic turn. They collapsed from 166/3 to just 189 all out having lost seven wickets for a mere 23 runs in just 36 balls. This collapse saw them bowled out for a paltry 95 runs in just 15.1 overs. This capitulation sealed their fate and gave an easy victory to the Punjab Kings.
The historic nature of this clash can hardly be overstated. Punjab Kings cruised home with 111 runs to spare! With that, they sealed their win but completed history by becoming the first-ever team to defend a total under 112 in an IPL match. This landmark achievement is further proof of the wonderfully unpredictable nature of T20 cricket. While both teams negotiated major collapses on the field, they cemented what can change in an instant.
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