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Time of India
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
"We just kept pegging them back": PBKS bowling coach lauds bowlers for thrilling win over MI
Shreyas Iyer's explosive 87 propelled Punjab Kings to victory over Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2, chasing down a 203-run target with an over to spare. Despite MI's strong start, PBKS' bowlers, particularly Arshdeep Singh and Azmatullah Omarzai, contained the score. PBKS bowling coach James Hopes deflected the praise to his bowling contingent as well. Punjab Kings secured their first IPL final berth since 2014 by successfully chasing down Mumbai Indians' total of 203 with an over remaining in Qualifier 2 at Ahmedabad. While Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 87 off 41 balls led the batting charge, PBKS bowling coach James Hopes praised his bowling unit for containing Mumbai Indians on a batting-friendly surface. Mumbai Indians got off to a strong start after being sent in to bat, reaching 65 for 1 in the powerplay overs. They maintained a run rate of over ten runs per over during the middle phase of the innings. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! However, the Punjab Kings bowlers managed to take regular wickets, preventing Mumbai Indians from launching a final assault in the death overs. "There was a stage where I reckon they were looking at 220, 225 and we just kept pegging them back at the right time," Hopes said at the post-match press conference. "We never went for that big over of 18, 19. We kept pegging them at 10, 11 knowing that we got Arshdeep coming at the end and Azmatullah bowled beautifully as well. " "We gave them a few extra runs, yeah, but that's why I was saying I thought they were going to get 220. There was a bit of confidence in our group when they only got 200, thinking we've dragged them back here. You could even tell our first over batting the way the ball came off the bat, it was just skipping off the bat a little more and you could tell there was just a little bit of dew, a little bit of wetness out there, that was going to help us, and it did. " IPL 2025 Winner Prediction: What Greenstone Lobo's Astrology says The chase of 204 was particularly challenging against five-time champions Mumbai Indians, who had never lost while defending a total over 200, especially with Jasprit Bumrah's impressive economy rate of 6.36. Poll Will Punjab Kings win their first IPL title this year? Yes, they have the momentum! No, they will fall short. Josh Inglis took on Bumrah early, hitting him for two sixes and two fours in his first over, providing crucial momentum to the chase. "The way Josh Inglis attacked Boom up front to get him off his game a little bit… if you'd told us we were chasing 200 at the start of the day and we were going to take 40 off Jasprit, we would have taken that every day of the week and liked our chances," said Hopes . "Josh has got a pretty good record against him in short-form cricket. He plays him well," added the coach. "I don't think it was a conscious decision to go after that over. He just got some balls and he put them away, and on another day, those balls go to the fielder and he's not taking what he did off that over. So doing that to him in the first over not only has a flow-on effect for his bowling but has a flow-on effect for the rest of their team as well," said Hopes. 'I don't want to be a one-season wonder': Punjab Kings' Shashank Singh "He doesn't get flustered very easily and he knows his match-ups," said Hopes in praise of skipper Shreyas Iyer. "Tonight we kept them to 200 when I reckon they could have got 220, 230 and just because the way he pulls the strings out there and manoeuvres bowlers around. We had Vyshak with one over left. He took his gut call to bowl Azmat. He's a sensational captain and he's a sensational player," stated the coach as Iyer led the franchise to its first final since 2014, and possibly, to a maiden IPL crown.
NDTV
4 days ago
- Sport
- NDTV
"Going To Do It The Hard Way': Punjab Kings Coach's Big Take After Big RCB Loss
Punjab Kings (PBKS) lost the first qualifier of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 8 wickets, in a low-scoring game, failing to take the first chance to book their seat in the final of the tournament. Put to bat first, the Kings lost early wickets and only managed to post 101 runs on the board, with 35 balls still remaining. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on the other hand, chased the total in just 10 overs, while giving away only two wickets and securing a place in the IPL 2025 final, as per a release from Punjab Kings. Following the disheartening loss, Punjab Kings' fast bowling coach, James Hopes, addressed the media to provide an assessment of the match, emphasizing key areas where the team lacked and the mindset it needs to carry forward in the tournament. "We played the first over okay with the bat and then it just snowballed from there. The game only finished 20 minutes ago so trying to digest it is hard in these 20 minutes, but it is also necessary that we digest it and move on from it by the end of tonight because we have to travel tomorrow," the fast bowling coach said, as quoted from a release by Punjab Kings. Expressing his optimism for the next qualifier, he added, "We have got to get up to play another game on Sunday and we are going to do it the hard way now, but I hope we meet Royal Challengers Bengaluru again on Tuesday night... We have a two-day turnaround now to play another final. We have worked for two and a bit months to earn the right to have a second chance, and we are going to cash that second chance in, hopefully." Hopes also addressed the struggles faced by the Kings' batting unit in last night's encounter but affirmed that they should continue with the aggressive approach, instead of doubting and revisiting their strategies. "While our batsmen were a little bit reckless, they have counter-attacked the whole year and it has worked the majority of the time. It did not work tonight. We do need to talk about it, but we also understand we are going to a pitch that is going to be completely different to what we just played on," said the fast bowling coach. He added, "The aggressive nature should return; I am in favour of that. The worst thing our batters can do now is blink and start jumping at shadows and second-guessing themselves. We have to go to Ahmedabad. Historically it is (Ahmedabad) a very good pitch, and we know we are going to have to go quite hard and score quite quickly. It is not back to the drawing board by any means." Punjab Kings will now face the winner of the eliminator (between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans) in the second qualifier on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Listen to the latest songs, only on
India Gazette
4 days ago
- Sport
- India Gazette
'We are going to do it the hard way': PBKS fast bowling coach James Hopes
Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], May 30 (ANI): Punjab Kings (PBKS) lost the first qualifier of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 8 wickets, in a low-scoring game, failing to take the first chance to book their seat in the final of the tournament. Put to bat first, the Kings lost early wickets and only managed to post 101 runs on the board, with 35 balls still remaining. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on the other hand, chased the total in just 10 overs, while giving away only two wickets and securing a place in the IPL 2025 final, as per a release from Punjab Kings. Following the disheartening loss, Punjab Kings' fast bowling coach, James Hopes, addressed the media to provide an assessment of the match, emphasizing key areas where the team lacked and the mindset it needs to carry forward in the tournament. 'We played the first over okay with the bat and then it just snowballed from there. The game only finished 20 minutes ago so trying to digest it is hard in these 20 minutes, but it is also necessary that we digest it and move on from it by the end of tonight because we have to travel tomorrow,' the fast bowling coach said, as quoted from a release by Punjab Kings. Expressing his optimism for the next qualifier, he added, 'We have got to get up to play another game on Sunday and we are going to do it the hard way now, but I hope we meet Royal Challengers Bengaluru again on Tuesday night... We have a two-day turnaround now to play another final. We have worked for two and a bit months to earn the right to have a second chance, and we are going to cash that second chance in, hopefully.' Hopes also addressed the struggles faced by the Kings' batting unit in last night's encounter but affirmed that they should continue with the aggressive approach, instead of doubting and revisiting their strategies. 'While our batsmen were a little bit reckless, they have counter-attacked the whole year and it has worked the majority of the time. It did not work tonight. We do need to talk about it, but we also understand we are going to a pitch that is going to be completely different to what we just played on,' said the fast bowling coach. He added, 'The aggressive nature should return; I am in favour of that. The worst thing our batters can do now is blink and start jumping at shadows and second-guessing themselves. We have to go to Ahmedabad. Historically it is (Ahmedabad) a very good pitch, and we know we are going to have to go quite hard and score quite quickly. It is not back to the drawing board by any means.' Punjab Kings will now face the winner of the eliminator (between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans) in the second qualifier on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. (ANI)
India Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
IPL 2025: Punjab Kings have earned the right to play Qualifier 2, says James Hopes
Punjab Kings have earned the right to get a second shot at the IPL final, said bowling coach James Hopes. Punjab were demolished by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League's Qualifier 1 on Thursday, May 29. Despite playing at their home venue, Punjab faltered and lost their match by a massive margin of 8 team will now play Qualifier 2 against the winners of Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans on Sunday, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Speaking at the post-match press conference only minutes after their horror loss against RCB, bowling coach James Hopes said that it was a difficult loss to digest, but they had to get it out of their is hard to digest that the game finished 20 minutes before (than it was supposed to). But it is also important to digest it and move on by the end of tonight. We are going to have to do it the hard way now, but hopefully we meet RCB again on Tuesday night," Hopes said after the match. The former Australia all-rounder said that Punjab probably went too aggressive with the bat in the first innings, on a pitch that had ample help for the bowlers. Hopes argued that Punjab probably needed to see off the new ball and attack outside of the powerplay, something that Phil Salt did to Kyle Jamieson in the second innings of the game."We probably went at it a little bit too hard. We should have realised that 180 was going to be enough on this pitch, if we could have extracted some movement later. It was a little damp and we had a rough night out today," Hopes second over was very good, but his second over, the 6th over of the match, the ball was no longer swinging and it was kind of sliding on. We needed more than a hundred on that pitch. The game against KKR, the wicket was always stop-start, but this was different than that," he further PBKS bowling coach concluded by stating that there are plenty of conversations that the team will have after the game and that they will try to bounce back hard in the next match in Ahmedabad, where they have already won against Gujarat Titans in a high-scoring encounter."There will be plenty of conversations to be had about the game. We did not have a great night with the bat, but we have a 2-day turnaround now to play another final (playoff) to which we have earned the right. We worked very hard for two and a half months to earn the right to have a second chance and we are going to cash that second chance, hopefully," he updated on IPL 2025 with India Today! Get match schedules, team squads, live score, and the latest IPL points table for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Plus, keep track of the top contenders for the IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap. Don't miss a moment!Tune InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#IPL 2025
India Today
18-05-2025
- Sport
- India Today
Finishing 9th or 10th unacceptable, need to improve in all 3 departments: Sanju Samson
5:38 Punjab Kings' bowling coach James Hopes expressed confidence ahead of their upcoming IPL clash against Rajasthan Royals, highlighting the team's preparedness and the fearless mindset of the young Indian players. Reflecting on the week-long break in the middle of the tournament, Hopes said the players have returned feeling refreshed and are back in rhythm.
