Iyer's maiden ton drags Punjab back into the four — Mumbai vs Rajasthan settles the last seat
PBKS broke their six-game slide at Ekana; tonight at the Wankhede, Royals just need to win — anything else and Punjab keep fourth.
How last night went · Match 68 at BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
196 all out (19.5) — Josh Inglis 16 (6) · Pooran 38
Bowling: Bishnoi 1/22 (LSG) · Shashank Singh 2/41 (PBKS) · Mohsin Khan 1/52 (LSG)
Toss: PBKS won, opted to bowl · Player of the Match: Shreyas Iyer
The one to remember
Iyer walked in with PBKS one down and a target of 197 that looked stiff against a Lucknow side missing both their overseas openers. He didn't try to win the match in the first six overs — he got himself in, then turned. The hundred came up off a 6 off Mohsin Khan in the 17th over, his first IPL ton in twelve seasons, and by the time he was hugging Ponting in the dugout PBKS were already past the line with 12 balls in hand.
The moments that decided it
- Hit Iyer's pace control. 50 off 33 in the first half of the chase, 50 off 21 in the second — exactly the kind of acceleration Punjab haven't had all month.
- Hit Prabhsimran's anchor. 71 off 38 at the other end gave Iyer permission to play; the 134-run stand in 12 overs was the match.
- Hit Bowling out LSG for 196. Lucknow looked good for 220+ at 138 for 2 in the 13th. Punjab pulled it back with two in two from Shashank in the 14th.
- Miss LSG's overseas hole. Without Marsh and Markram, Lucknow's middle never had the muscle to push past 200 — and they needed every run.
- Miss Mohsin's death overs. Conceded 52 in 4, took 1 — including Iyer's six to bring up his century. A bad night to bowl to a man on a mission.
- Turning point Iyer's six off Mohsin in the 17th — Punjab needed 13 off 18, suddenly it was 7 off 17, and the chase was a formality.
Tonight on the field · Match 69
Stakes: Royals win and they're in — fourth spot locked. Royals lose and Punjab keep fourth, KKR get a real chance tomorrow, DC stay mathematically alive. Mumbai are playing for pride and 2027 retention conversations.
Matchup to watch: Jadeja's left-arm spin vs Tilak Varma at the Wankhede — Tilak averaged 22 against finger-spin this season; Jadeja's wickets have come at 18.4. Both back from injury this match, both with something to prove.
Pitch: Wankhede has averaged 222 in the first innings this IPL — high-scoring, true bounce. Toss-and-bat is the read, but the dew at Mumbai is more decisive in the second innings than the conditions.
Where things stand
| # | Team | M | W | L | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RCB | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 0.783 |
| 2 | GT | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 0.695 |
| 3 | SRH | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 0.524 |
| 4 | PBKS | 14 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 0.309 |
| 5 | RR | 13 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0.083 |
| 6 | KKR | 13 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 0.011 |
| 7 | CSK | 14 | 6 | 8 | 12 | -0.345 |
| 8 | DC | 13 | 6 | 7 | 12 | -0.871 |
| 9 | MI | 13 | 4 | 9 | 8 | -0.51 |
| 10 | LSG | 14 | 4 | 10 | 8 | -0.74 |
Where every fan stands tonight
- RCB — Top of the table on NRR. Final league fixture is over; Qualifier 1 is set against Gujarat. Three days to rest and pick a Bhuvneshwar workload.
- GT — Locked into the top two by NRR margin. Sudharsan + Gill's form is the league's biggest story; Siraj's late-season wickets the second.
- SRH — Third on points. League stage done — they wait to see if it's Eliminator or Q2 depending on the four-way scrap.
- PBKS — Climbed to fourth on points after last night's chase. Their playoff fate now sits entirely with RR's result tonight.
- RR — Win tonight at Wankhede and they're in. Lose and Punjab keep the fourth spot. Parag and Jadeja are fit — that's everything.
- CSK — Officially out. The dressing-room conversations now are squarely about Fleming's future and Gaikwad's leadership.
- KKR — Sixth on points. Tomorrow vs DC is must-win, AND they need RR to lose tonight, AND the NRR math to work. Long odds but alive.
- DC — Mathematically alive — need to beat KKR tomorrow AND RR to lose tonight AND NRR. The longest odds in the table.
- MI — Eliminated. Tonight is Hardik's last chance to ask whether the captaincy experiment was worth a season's worth of inconsistency.
- LSG — Eliminated. Marsh and Markram already home; a long off-season of structural questions ahead.
Names worth knowing
Orange Cap
- Sai Sudharsan (Gujarat Titans) — 638 runs
- Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans) — 616 runs
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals) — 579 runs
- Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow Super Giants) — 563 runs
- Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad) — 555 runs
Purple Cap
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) — 24 wkts
- Anshul Kamboj (Chennai Super Kings) — 21 wkts
- Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans) — 19 wkts
- Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals) — 18 wkts
Around the boundary
Iyer's maiden IPL hundred ends a twelve-year wait. Twelve IPL seasons, 142 innings, 4,800-plus runs — and last night was Shreyas Iyer's first three-figure score. He's averaged 32 across that span but never gone past 96. The 100* off 54 last night came when his captaincy and his career-form were both on the line; the post-match handshakes from Ponting and Kuldeep Yadav told their own story. Punjab move to 15 points and fourth.
The 4th-spot maths after Iyer's chase — three teams, two matches, one seat. PBKS now sit fourth at 15 points, M=14. Royals are fifth at 14 points, M=13 — win tonight at the Wankhede and they take fourth. KKR are sixth at 13 points, M=13 — must beat DC tomorrow AND have RR lose tonight AND have NRR break their way. DC are seventh on tiebreakers at 12 points and need everything to fall. The seat will be decided by 11:30 PM IST tomorrow at the latest.
Qualifier 1 set — RCB vs GT in Bengaluru on Tuesday. With the top three on 18 points and only NRR separating them, RCB host Gujarat in Qualifier 1 on May 27. The winner gets a second life in the Q2; the loser drops into Q2 to face the Eliminator winner. Sunrisers, who slid to third on NRR despite winning their last three, head to the Eliminator.
Parag and Jadeja both pass fitness — RR can field their first-choice XI. Two days ago Jadeja was a doubt with a tight quad; Riyan Parag was nursing a finger sprain from the Hyderabad match. Both passed yesterday's net session and are confirmed in tonight's playing XI. RR's bowling under lights at the Wankhede now reads Archer, Jadeja, Punja, Shanaka — a far better hand than the depleted side that lost in Hyderabad on the 18th.
Tomorrow
KKR vs DC (Match 70 — last league fixture). Both teams need a win + dependencies. KKR's playoff math survives only if RR lost tonight; DC's only if a long list breaks their way. By the end of this match the league stage will be settled and the eliminator slot named.
Sources: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/lucknow-super-giants-vs-punjab-kings-68th-match-1529311/full-scorecard, https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/lucknow-super-giants-vs-punjab-kings-68th-match-1529311/match-report, https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/mumbai-indians-vs-rajasthan-royals-69th-match-1529312/match-preview, https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/points-table-standings, https://www.business-standard.com/amp/cricket/ipl/ipl-2026-live-score-updates-lsg-vs-pbks-full-scorecard-lucknow-super-giants-vs-punjab-kings-highlights-126052300682_1.html · fmd-data canonical layer (cricinfo:next_data + wikipedia:caps).