Shreyas Iyer once again stood at the centre of Punjab Kings’ chase, finishing unbeaten on 69 off 33 balls as his side chased down 220 with seven balls remaining to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in an IPL match on Saturday.
The chase was set up early by Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, who put on 99 runs in the powerplay.
Priyansh made 57 off 20 balls and Prabhsimran 51 off 25, taking PBKS to 93 without loss in the first six overs and leaving little room for doubt about intent.
Sunrisers, earlier in the evening, had looked on course for an even bigger total after Abhishek Sharma’s 74 off 28 balls and Travis Head’s 38 off 23.
The pair added 120 in just 8.1 overs, pushing SRH to 84 without loss in five overs and later 120 without loss in the ninth. Abhishek struck eight sixes and five fours, taking the attack to every bowler used.
The shift came after the openers were dismissed in the same over by Shashank Singh. From there, SRH slowed and finished on 219 for six. Xavier Bartlett’s final over, which went for just five runs, also mattered in keeping the total in check.
Iyer later spoke about that phase and the call to bring Shashank in. "All of us came together, and Shashank approached me, give me an over. Ricky came and asked me, what's your thought? I said I'll go with Shashank - I need someone to take the pace off. He lived up to his expectations, he lived up to what he said, kudos to him... At the end of the day, we all know we've got the skills. We need a strong mindset when we go for such chases."
In the reply, PBKS did not slow down even after losing a few wickets in the middle. Iyer took time at the start, then shifted gears once set. "Firstly, we've got a phenomenal start. When you're chasing 220, you need that start. Pleasing to the eye, proper cricketing shots. Steadied the rhythm at the start. Not easy, but maintaining that momentum - I needed to give myself time. Once I gauged the pace of the pitch."
He also spoke about the freedom given to the openers, who continue to set the tone.
"Openers have been flowing throughout, they don't need to curb their instincts. Others, who set their platforms from ball one, it's easy for us to rotate strike and go according to run rate. Overall, we've been magnificent with our work ethic. All players worked their... bodies off."
For SRH, the match came down to missed control in key overs despite a strong start. Ishan Kishan admitted the bowling group could not hold its lines after the powerplay surge.
"We could have ended with a total of 250, the way we started... At the same time, they batted well in the beginning. At the same time, we were not so good with the execution - in T20 cricket, the most important thing is the execution of your good balls," Kishan said. "190 is a par score here, we could have had 240 here. But 220 was a great total. We had six or seven bowlers. It showed in their batting that it was easier scoring runs for them. I think in today's age, you don't have to plan much - you just do ahead of the game. You know which batter hits where. When you don't execute balls, you have nothing - you just end up giving 10-20 runs."
Iyer, meanwhile, kept the focus on the bigger picture of Punjab’s season, even as the win added to early momentum. "They're delivering on the field. I keep reiterating every now and then, you have to be in the present. Ricky (Ponting) also takes a lot of importance in this aspect. Even last year, we came so close to winning the trophy. This year, we want to lift it. It will take a lot of effort to envision that."