Punjab Kings (PBKS) suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2025 season at Mullanpur on Thursday (May 29).

Punjab’s innings folded for a paltry 101 in 14.1 overs after being invited to bat first by RCB skipper Rajat Patidar. Marcus Stoinis was the top scorer with 26 off 17 balls.

Chasing the target, RCB got over the line in 10 overs, led by a blazing unbeaten half-century from opener Phil Salt (56* off 27).

After the game, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody advised Shreyas Iyer to keep ego ‘inside his pocket’ after the PBKS skipper threw away his wicket in the crucial playoff fixture.

Shreyas attempted an ugly slog off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood on the fourth ball of the third over. However, the right-hander was undone by the extra bounce as wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma grabbed a simple catch behind the stumps to send him back to the pavilion for just 2 uns.

The captain was criticised by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar on-air for his horrendous shot. Even PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting was seen having an animated conversation with Iyer inside the dressing room after his dismissal.

“At times, you need to put your ego in your pocket and just move forward. To me that was the perfect example of not reading the situation – trying to overcome something that has been a darkness in the past instead of just swallowing your pride and just moving on by just accumulating,” said Moody on ESPNCricinfo ‘Timeout’.

“You only had to see Hazlewood out. It was a simple thing – see him out and look to dissect the rest of their attack,” he added.

Moody also mentioned that Shreyas was guilty of misreading the game and he should have done better knowing that Hazlewood has a good record against him.

“The first ball he played and missed – the perfect line that you’d expect Hazlewood to bowl. He sort of played at it, but didn’t really want to play at it. And then, that third ball he got out,” said Moody.

“To me, he totally misread the game situation and his own situation. Yes, he would be aware that Hazlewood has had him a few times in the past. He would know the exact numbers,” he added.

Having finished as table-toppers in the league stage, Punjab Kings will get another opportunity to reach the final. They will now face the winner of Eliminator clash between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2, scheduled for June 1 at Ahmedabad.