The Ricky Ponting–Shreyas Iyer magic literally worked as Punjab Kings reached the playoffs of IPL after a hiatus of 11 years. The Punjab-based franchise delivered memorable games this season and sealed a playoffs berth after a thrilling victory against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Opting to bat first, PBKS posted a whopping total of 219/5 in 20 overs with Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh hitting half-centuries. In the chase, RR went berserk by scoring 89 runs in the powerplay but PBKS bowlers quickly bounced back and restricted them to 209/7 and won the match by 10 runs.

The biggest hero of PBKS’ victory was left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar as he dismissed the three dangerous batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal (50), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40), and Riyan Parag (13), and helped his side to bounce back.

Brar, who leaked only 22 runs in his four-over quota, also bagged the Player of the Match award. During the ceremony, he dedicated the award to his wife Molly Sandhu, with whom he tied the knot in March this year.

“Feels good. I want to dedicate this award to my wife. This is my first Player of the Match award after marriage,” said Brar during the post-match presentation.

“We practice a lot against the left handers, Ponting Sir has told us that a leftie can get a leftie out. I have worked on that, I knew they would come after me but I backed to bowl to my strengths. The way the wicket was playing and they were batting, the plan was to not give a boundary or give them an easy balls,” he added.

Sadda Superstar! pic.twitter.com/quC70Qqn8J

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 18, 2025

Brar did not get the opportunity to play in the initial matches this season. He played his first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 18, where he took two wickets in two overs.

“After Chahal’s arrival I thought it would be easy to bowl with him, I didn’t get an opportunity at the start but cricket is a funny game, I always thought once I get an opportunity I will grab it,” said Brar.

Already qualified for the playoffs, PBKS will now be taking on Delhi Capitals in their next match on Saturday as they hope to finish in top two.