In one of the most dramatic comebacks in IPL history, Punjab Kings (PBKS) stunned defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with a 16-run victory in Mullanpur, defending a mere 111—the lowest total ever successfully defended in the league. The win left head coach Ricky Ponting in awe, especially after the team’s recent criticism for failing to defend 245 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. PBKS, after opting to bat first, had a strong start with Prabhsimran Singh (30) and Priyansh Arya (22) adding 39 runs early, but a double-wicket over by Harshit Rana quickly halted their momentum.

From there, wickets tumbled as Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine tightened the screws, eventually bundling PBKS out for 111. During KKR’s chase, they appeared in control at 62 for 2, but an unexpected collapse followed, with the team losing eight wickets for just 33 runs. Yuzvendra Chahal turned the tide with a match-winning spell of 4 for 28, dismantling the middle order, while Marco Jansen delivered a crucial 3 for 17, including the prized scalp of Andre Russell. The stunning fightback showcased PBKS’s resilience and marked one of the greatest defensive efforts in the tournament’s history.

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"Just about the best win that I've ever had and a season-defining moment. The heart rate still up a bit for me - it's probably up over 200. I don't need many of those games like that at my age of over 50 now. It just goes to show how funny a game it is. Only three days ago, we couldn't defend 246 [245] and here we are, defending 112 [111] with 16 runs up our sleeves. We actually said to the guys at the halfway mark that really small chases like this are sometimes the hardest. The wicket wasn't easy. You can see right through the game it was holding up," Ponting told the broadcaster in the post-match

Best win I ever had: Ricky Ponting

Ponting, who witnessed from the sidelines as PBKS defended the lowest total in IPL history, 111 runs ,to secure a stunning 16-run win, remarked that it was the best victory in his IPL coaching career since 2014. He reflected that such wins are always the sweetest and added that if they could pull off a result like that, it would rank among the finest victories most players had ever experienced. Having coached many IPL matches, Ponting felt this might just be the most memorable win he had been a part of.

"But we just said that wins like this are always the sweetest ones. If we can pull this off, then this would be as good a win as most guys have probably been involved in. I've coached a lot of games in the IPL and that might just be about the best win that I've ever had,” Ponting concluded.