Karun Nair's Double Drop Proves Costly as Punjab Kings Complete Record IPL Chase

Karun Nair Punjab Kings completed the highest successful run chase in IPL history on Saturday by chasing down 265 against Delhi Capitals in Delhi, but for Karun Nair, it turned into a night of missed chances and visible heartbreak on the field. Nair appeared close to breaking down after dropping Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer twice in the space of four balls, mistakes that proved costly as PBKS pulled off the record chase in IPL 2026.

The first chance came on the last ball of the 15th over when Vipraj Nigam got Iyer to mistime a lofted shot straight towards long-off. Nair moved a few steps forward, settled under the ball and looked set to complete a simple catch, but the ball slipped out of his hands. The miss left Vipraj stunned. He sat down on the ground, holding his head in disappointment as Delhi missed a key chance to get back into the game.

Just four balls later, Iyer survived again. On the second ball of the 16th over, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a length delivery and Iyer went for the pull. It was Kuldeep's wrong'un, and the ball took the top edge before going high towards long-on. Once again, Nair was under it, and once again, the catch went down. After the second drop, Nair looked visibly shaken and seemed on the verge of breaking down as Delhi watched another major chance slip away.

Iyer made sure those mistakes hurt DC. After getting two lifelines, he stayed calm and scored 71 off 36 balls, leading Punjab's chase and taking his side home with seven balls to spare.

Earlier in the innings, Punjab's openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya had already laid the base for the chase. Prabhsimran made 76 off 26 balls with nine fours and five sixes, while Priyansh scored 43 off 17 balls with two fours and five sixes. The pair added 126 runs for the opening wicket in just 6.5 overs and took PBKS to 105/0 in the powerplay, the highest powerplay score of the season.

Punjab then lost three wickets quickly, but Iyer held the innings together and made full use of the dropped chances. His knock helped Punjab Kings chase 265, the highest successful run chase in IPL history.