Head coach Ponting lauds team's resilience as PBKS qualify for playoffs after 11 years

Jaipur, May 19 (IANS) With a stunning victory against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, the Punjab Kings have booked their berth in the playoffs of IPL 2025. Following the hard-fought victory, head coach Ricky Ponting addressed the Kings in the dressing room, lauding their resilience.

PBKS defeated RR by 10 runs in a thrilling encounter at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday. The win was powered by brilliant half-centuries from Nehal Wadhera (70 off 37 balls) and Shashank Singh (59 not out off 30 balls), along with a match-winning performance from Harpreet Brar, who claimed three wickets to turn the tide in PBKS’ favour. This crucial victory helped PBKS seal playoff qualification after 11 years.

In his address, Ponting stressed how the players have adopted a simple yet effective approach since the beginning of the tournament, playing their natural game despite the situation. Expressing his happiness with the batting unit, who put 219/5 on the board for the RR to chase, Ponting specifically praised Wadhera for his brilliant performance, scoring 70 runs off just 37 balls last night.

"What you did was manage to put pressure back on them straight away. You have to do that in this format, right? You had a great partnership with Shreyas. I actually said to him at one of the timeouts that because you're so good, you can find a way to score runs, be out there in a partnership, and you ended up putting on 67 off 44 balls," Ponting said.

"Shashank, awesome again. Every time you have been confronted with something in the tournament, you have found a way to get it done," he added while praising the batter for his unbeaten knock of 59 runs.

The former Australian captain then applauded the bowlers for managing to defend the score of 219, with a special focus on Harpreet, who clinched 3 crucial wickets while conceding just 22 runs.

"You and Dubey have bowled more than anybody here over the last eight weeks. You put in the hard work, you get a chance, and it yields results. So, personally, all your teammates and coaches couldn't be happier that you got the chance to make an impact, and you made an impact by registering figures of 3/22 in 4 overs and grabbing all the big wickets. Well done!" Ponting concluded.

PBKS will next face the Delhi Capitals on May 24 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

--IANS

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