Cricket Punjab defends the lowest total in IPL history to beat Kolkata

April 15 (Reuters) – Punjab Kings successfully defended the lowest total in Indian Premier League (IPL) history when they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs on Tuesday. Kolkata chased 112 at the PCA New International Cricket Stadium and crumbled under the pressure applied by Punjab’s Yuzvendra Chahal (4-28) and Marco Jansen (3-17), who shared seven wickets between them. “The heartbeat is still a bit for me. It’s probably over 200. I don’t need many of the games like those at my age of over 50. I just show how funny a game is,” Punjab coach Ricky Ponting said. Kolkata captain Ajinkya Rahane and impact player Angkrish Raghuvanshi tried to hold Punjab, but the visitors failed against the host’s attack and lost eight wickets for 33 runs and scored only 95 in 15.1 overs. “It was only three days ago that we couldn’t defend 246 (against Sunrisers Hyderabad), and here we are, you know, to defend 112 with 16 runs on our sleeves,” Ponting said. “I couldn’t have been the way we went in the second half. I mean our batting was weak … I actually thought it was a season definition moment, and that could be now too. ” I think of the halfway there wasn’t too many people around the world who could think we could defend it, and we had a whole lot. ‘Bat, also had a batting day, as they only placed 111 in 15.3 overs with Prabhsimran Singh as their top standings with 30 out of 15 deliveries. Two wickets selected. ‘The bounce was not consistent. We had it behind in our minds and we asked the bowlers to keep that in mind. And they performed it. ‘ (Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru) first published: 16 Apr 2025, 01:15 IST