- Wednesday, March 26, 2025
By: India Weekly
SHREYAS IYER began his stint as Punjab Kings captain with a blistering 42-ball 97 not out as his team humbled the Gujarat Titans by 11 runs in their Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Shashank Singh bludgeoned 44 off 16 balls after Iyer’s brilliant display with the bat as Kings posted an imposing 243 for five.
In reply, Titans were stopped at 232 for five with Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler making a 41-ball 74 and 33-ball 54, respectively.
Iyer struck as many as nine sixes and five fours but he could not get to his maiden IPL hundred, as Shashank took 23 runs off the final over to end the Kings innings on a high note.
Shashank hit six fours and two sixes during his brilliant cameo.
The Titans bowling at the death left much to be desired as Kings amassed 135 runs in the last eight overs. Titans’ fielding was also not up to the mark on the night.
During his sparkling knock, Iyer tackled the short ball, once considered his weakness, with elan.
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In pursuit of 244, Titans too got off to a flyer with Shubman Gill and Sudharsan putting on 61 runs in just under six overs before the home team captain got a leading edge off a Glenn Maxwell delivery to fall for a 14-ball 33.
Jos Buttler joined Sudharsan in the middle and the two scored runs at a fast clip to keep Titans in the hunt.
However, having added 84 runs for the second wicket with Buttler, Sudharsan looked to whip an ordinary Arshdeep Singh off his pads and while he timed it superbly, the opener did not get the desired elevation and was caught in the deep.
With dew coming into the picture and Buttler still at the crease, Titans knew they remained very much in the game despite losing Sudharsan, and Sherfane Rutherford’s two sixes and a four off Marcus Stoinis acted as stimulus for the home team.
But with his smart medium pace bowing, impact sub Vijaykumar Vyshak ensured Kings had their nose ahead by conceding just five runs in the 15th over.
Marco Jansen was brought back into the attack with Titans requiring 70 runs in the last 30 balls, and the tall South African left-arm pacer gave away only eight runs to compound the batting team’s problems.
Vyshak bowled another tight over despite conceding three wides, leaving GT to get 57 runs in 18 balls, which they could not achieve.
Earlier, caring very little for reputation, Priyansh Arya (47 off 23) went after the GT bowling from the get go.
Arya, who was bought by Kings during the last IPL auction, clobbered Mohammed Siraj over deep square leg for his first six and followed it up with a four.
Kagiso Rabada made the first breakthrough when he had Prabhsimran Singh caught in the deep, paving the way for new Kings captain Iyer’s entry into the middle and he started with a lovely drive on the up for a boundary before flicking the seasoned South African pacer for a six over deep square leg.
Back in strike, the 24-year-old Arya launched into left-arm pacer Arshad Khan and collected 21 runs in the fifth over with the help of three fours and a six on the off side. His best shot of the evening was, however, a spectacular straight drive past the bowler for a four.
Arya then drove Rabada for a boundary through extra cover, as PBKS amassed 73 runs for the loss of one wicket in the power play.
GT skipper introduced spin with Rashid Khan and the magician from Afghanistan straightaway delivered with the wicket of Arya at time when he was growing in confidence.
It was a soft dismissal as Arya got a top edge while reaching out for a sharply turning delivery that also kept a bit low.
Up against his compatriot Rashid, Azmatullah Omarzai smashed the star leg-spinner for a first-ball six over the bowler’s head.
Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore grabbed two wickets in two balls, sending back Omarzai and Glenn Maxwell to reduce Kings to 105/4 in the 11th over.
However, Iyer had other ideas as the India batter reached his fifty in just 27 balls.
Iyer first went inside out to loft Sai Kishore for a six-over, long-off, and then smoked him for another maximum, as 17 runs came off the over after Marcus Stoinis got himself a boundary.
It was then the turn of Rashid to be at the receiving end of Iyer’s assault as he smashed the leggie for two successive sixes, the first one straight down the ground and the second over deep wicket.
Siraj was brought back into the attack, and Stoinis and Iyer collected a six each off him. (PTI)
