Punjab Kings’ hopes of finishing in the top two of the IPL playoffs took a hit as they lost to the Delhi Capitals on Sunday. The Shreyas Iyer-led franchise posted 206 runs on the board in their 20 overs, but a few good knocks by the Delhi Capitals batters helped them chase down the total in the final over.
After the closely fought contest, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta wasn’t happy with one of the decisions taken by the third umpire, which she termed as unacceptable. As it so happened, during the 15th over of the match, Punjab Kings batter Shashank Singh hit Mohit Sharma for a shot straight down the ground. Karun Nair, stationed on the boundary, tried his best to save it but ultimately signalled that the ball had gone for a six.
However, when the third umpire reviewed the footage, he found no evidence of Nair’s foot touching the boundary line. Instead of awarding a six, only a single run was given.
Preity Zinta reacts to Third Umpre’s decision:
Zinta remained furious about the umpire’s decision after the match, writing in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “In a such a high profile tournament with so much technology at the Third Umpire’s disposal such mistakes are unacceptable & simply shouldn’t happen. I spoke To Karun after the game & he confirmed it was DEFINITELY a 6 ! I rest my case !”
Punjab Kings now stand at the 2nd spot in the IPL Points Table with 17 points in the 13 matches and a net run rate of +0.327. Their top two Playoff berth will rest massively on the outcome of the match against the Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Notably, MI have also qualified for the playoffs and are currently looking to secure a place in top two spot.
