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Punjab Kings (PBKS) were humbled at home by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Qualifier 1. The table-toppers suffered a batting collapse of epic proportions as they were bowled out for 101. After the eight-wicket defeat, PBKS assistant coach James Hopes wants the players to digest this win. He hopes that PBKS meet RCB again on Tuesday night in the IPL 2025 final.
"It 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 in the post-match press conference.
Hopes feels that the batters went too hard and failed to assess the conditions. He pointed out that Kyle Jamieson swung the ball in the fourth over but the ball wasn't swinging much after the first five overs.
"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 said.
"Kyle's 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 added.
'Right to have a second chance'
Hopes added that there will be discussions around what went wrong in the game. He also believes that PBKS have earned the right to get a second shot to qualify for the final.
"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 concluded.
On May 30, Gujarat Titans (GT) will go up against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the eliminator. The winner of the eliminator will face PBKS on June 1 in Qualifier 2 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
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