At Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, Punjab Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by an exciting 16 runs thanks to the return of Yuzvendra Chahal, who had career-best tournament statistics of 4-28, and three wickets taken by bowler Marco Jansen.

As they defended the lowest score in IPL history, Punjab’s bowlers showed a great deal of bravery and pulled off a thrilling victory.

Prior to this, Punjab Kings were bowled out for 111 in 15.3 overs by Harshit Rana, who took three wickets, and Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, who both took two wickets.

Chasing 112, Kolkata lost both of their openers, Sunil Narine (5) and Quinton de Kock (2), quickly as Punjab made early inroads thanks to Marco Jansen and debutant Xavier Bartlett.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi and captain Ajinkya Rahane led the team to 55/2 at the conclusion of the powerplay by adopting a conservative strategy. As the KKR seemed certain to win the game, the two stitched together a partnership of 60 runs. However, Rahane (17) was removed by Yuzvendra Chahal in the eighth over, bringing Punjab back into the match. Raghuvanshi was sent back to the pavilion by Chahal in his subsequent over. He arrived as an impact replacement and scored 37 runs, including five fours and a six.

Venkatesh Iyer (7), Rinku Singh (2), and Ramandeep Singh (0) hit stupid strokes on spinners to finish up on the losing side, making it a horror show from KKR’s middle order. Both Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana were unable to handle the strain and gave up their wickets cheaply.

Short scores:

The Punjab Kings defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders 95/10 in 15.1 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 37, Andre Russell 17; Yuzvendra Chahal 4-28, Marco Jansen 3-17) by 16 runs with 111/10 in 15.3 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 30, Priyanash Arya 22; Harshit Rana 3-25, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-21, Sunil Narine 2-14).