After six consecutive defeats, the Ricky Ponting-coached Punjab Kings have finally broken their frustrating IPL drought in Lucknow, but the Indian league's most Australian-flavoured of teams now have a nervous wait to see if they'll scrape into the playoffs.
With Ponting's trusty captain Shreyas Iyer hitting a superb unbeaten 101, his maiden IPL ton, on Saturday, the Kings eased to 3-200 to defeat the Justin Langer-guided Lucknow Super Giants, who'd made a Josh Inglis-powered 6-196, by seven wickets with a couple of overs to spare.
It's propelled Punjab into the fourth and last playoff spot but for how long? The chances still are that they'll be bumped out by the results on the final Sunday of the regular season.
First, Rajasthan Royals will play at Mumbai Indians, and if 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues the sort of precocious form he's shown all tournament, the Royals can expect the win that will guarantee they'll snatch fourth spot from Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, the only other two contenders.
