Chandigarh, Apr 15 (UNI) In an electrifying night at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Punjab Kings (PBKS) pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in IPL history, stunning Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 16 runs in a low-scoring yet drama-laden thriller here on Tuesday.

From being pummelled early by Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ajinkya Rahane, to scripting a scarcely believable turnaround through a dizzying collapse, Punjab bowlers stole the show — led by the guile of Yuzvendra Chahal, the pace and bounce of Marco Jansen, and the venom of Arshdeep Singh.

Preity Zinta's radiant smile from the owners' box lit up the Chandigarh night as Jansen pierced the final nail in Kolkata's coffin — knocking over Andre Russell with a devilish short ball that took a thick inside-edge onto the stumps. As the stumps lit up, the spectators erupted, and Punjab players mobbed Jansen in euphoria. It was a moment of disbelief — and delirium.

Chasing a modest 152, KKR seemed to be cruising at 61/1 after 6 overs, thanks to a fluent opening burst by young Raghuvanshi. The 18-year-old Mumbaikar stamped his class with glorious drives and confident flicks, racing to 37 off 28 balls. Rahane too chimed in with a classic six down the ground. By the end of the powerplay, Punjab looked out of ideas. Ricky Ponting wore a grim look in the dugout.

But what followed was sheer madness. Enter Chahal and the wily leggie turned the game on its head with a spell that will be remembered for ages. His first victim was Rahane, trapped lbw, albeit with some help from umpire Saidharshan Kumar and Rahane's own reluctance to review. The ball had pitched marginally outside off, but Rahane walked off shaking his head.

Then came Angkrish’s dismissal — a tossed-up delivery drawing the youngster into a false shot. He looked to loft inside out, only to skew it off the outside edge to Xavier Bartlett at backward point. Chahal pumped his fist. Punjab had hope.

The double blow that followed was surreal — Rinku Singh was done in by drift, dip and sharp turn as Josh Inglis stumped him beautifully, and the very next ball Ramandeep Singh was dismissed via an unfortunate deflection off his own forearm. Chahal was on a hat-trick and Chandigarh had erupted. From 61/1, KKR had collapsed to 76/6.

While Chahal (4/17) turned the middle overs into a minefield, Jansen returned to wipe out the tail. Harshit Rana was castled via a thick inside edge. Then, with KKR needing 17 off 28 balls and just Russell standing in the way, Jansen bowled the delivery of the match — a short ball wide outside off that Russell attempted to pull, only for it to crash into the stumps via a thick inside-edge.

If that wasn’t enough, Arshdeep Singh produced a classic Test-match style short ball to remove Vaibhav Arora, who gloved one behind to Inglis. The Punjab fans went berserk — a wicket-maiden at that stage sealed the script.

Bartlett was exceptional with the new ball, removing Quinton de Kock (2) and then seeing misfields turn into opportunities for boundaries. But his two-wicket burst in the powerplay gave PBKS a sniff.

Suryansh Shedge (4) and Shashank Singh (18), despite their fielding lapses, contributed key runs. Glenn Maxwell chipped in late with a handy cameo, and those extra 10-15 runs proved gold.

From needing 91 off 84 balls with 8 wickets in hand to being bowled out for 135 — KKR’s unraveling was spectacular. Chandrakant Pandit, KKR’s head coach, wore a haunted look as he watched from the dugout. The collapse was psychological as much as it was tactical. The pitch held up, but Punjab's self-belief shone brighter.

As Jansen raised his arms and the stadium drowned in roars, the final act had been played. PBKS had done the unthinkable.

Earlier, Punjab's batting lineup was completely dismantled by a clinical bowling performance from Kolkata as the hosts were bowled out for a meagre 111 runs in just 15.3 overs. The batting disaster unfolded despite some early fireworks, with the side losing key wickets in rapid succession. KKR’s bowlers, led by the relentless Rana and supported by the spin duo of Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy, never allowed the innings to settle after the powerplay burst.

Punjab's innings had shown early promise as Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh launched a spirited start. Arya struck a brisk 22, including a six off Rana and a boundary off Arora, while Prabhsimran blazed his way to 30 off just 15 deliveries with two towering sixes and a four. However, Rana returned to remove both openers in quick succession, and with captain Shreyas Iyer falling for a golden duck, the top order had crumbled within five overs.

The middle and lower order offered little resistance. Inglis was bowled by Chakaravarthy, Maxwell fell cheaply to the same bowler, and Narine accounted for both Shedge and Jansen. Shashank Singh’s 18 was the only semblance of a fight, but even he was undone by Arora. The innings ended with a farcical run-out of Xavier Bartlett, who was left stranded going for a non-existent second run. The collapse, chaotic and comprehensive, underscored KKR’s dominance with the ball.

Brief Scores:

PBKS 111 all out (Prabhsimran 30, Harshit Rana 3/25) KKR 95 all out (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 37, Chahal 4/28, Marco Jansen 3/17, Arshdeep 1/11)

Result: PBKS won by 16 runs

Player of the Match: Yuzvendra Chahal

UNI BDN ARN