“The heart rate is probably up over 200” - PBKS coach Ricky Ponting after a thrilling 16-run win over KKR

Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting has opened up after his side bagged a 16-run thrilling win in a low-scoring encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 31st match of the IPL 2025 season at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Tuesday, April 15.

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Interestingly, PBKS failed to defend 245 a few days ago against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) away from home. On Tuesday, the Punjab-based franchise went on to defend 111 runs with a 16-run win.

"Just about the best win that I've ever had and a season-defining moment. The heart rate is 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," Ricky Ponting told the broadcasters after the victory.

After a major collapse, PBKS batters could post only 111 runs in 15.3 overs, with Prabhsimran Singh (30) and Priyansh Arya (22) being the top scorers. Harshit Rana was the star of the bowlers for KKR, scalping three wickets.

In the chase, KKR got bundled out for 95 runs in 15.1 overs, losing the game by 16 runs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi was the star batter with 37 runs in 28 balls with five fours and a six. Yuzvendra Chahal was the star bowler with four wickets.

Before concluding, Ponting stated this was the best victory as a coach after coaching several teams in the past. PBKS are at the fourth rank on the points table with four wins and two losses. They will next play the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday, April 18.

"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. We just said that wins like this are always the sweetest ones. If we can pull this off, then this would be as good as a win most guys have probably been involved in," Ponting concluded.

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