A lot of Australian players, including Mitchell Starc, had gone back to their countries after the IPL 2025 paused halfway. In such a situation, a Punjab Kings insider informed that the head coach, Ricky Ponting, managed to convince the Aussies to stay back when the ceasefire occurred. The squad included Marcus Stoinis, Jos Inglish, Xavier Bartlett, etc. Marco Jansen was the first one to leave the camp but halted in Dubai.

Meanwhile, Stoinis went back. But returned late. There were words going around the Aussies might not return, not only for their commitments for the World Test Championship final but also for the missile-fear. However, Stonis revealed a different reason. After the first innings today, Stoinis, in the mid-match talk, revealed that he suffered from Covid. Speaking to the presenters, he said,

"During the break, I had Covid, so I rested up and came back in. It's always different when you go in the end and in one mode. Think it's a good target. Think the slower ones were holding, unless I was swinging too early. The wind's coming in, worth using the breeze as needed. Fit to bowl if required."

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stole the show with a blistering 44* off just 16 balls as Punjab Kings posted 206/8 in their allotted 20 overs. His late assault lifted the innings after a strong platform laid by captain Shreyas Iyer, who notched up his 5th half-century of the season, scoring 53 off 34 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Josh Inglis also fired a rapid 32 from just 12 deliveries.

For the bowling side, Mustafizur Rahman stood out with figures of 3/33, while Kuldeep Yadav (2/39) and Vipraj Nigam (2/38) chipped in crucial wickets. Despite some expensive overs, they managed to limit Punjab in the death. PBKS lost wickets at regular intervals but kept the scoring rate above 10 throughout.