Punjab Kings’ top order was on fire once again. Captain Shreyas Iyer (52 not out off 30 balls) continued to bank on his rich form and opener Prabhsimran Singh blasted 69 off 34 balls as the Kings thrashed Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets on Tuesday.
With this victory — their second win in as many games — the Kings joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals, who are both of four points from two matches. But Shreyas and Co. are in the second position with a superior net run rate.
The 172-run target wasn’t really an imposing one for the Kings, though the pitch at the Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow was a tad two-paced. But the Super Giants bowlers had no answer whatsoever to the performance that Prabhsimran, Shreyas and even Impact Player Nehal Wadhera (replacing Yuzvendra Chahal) produced.
Barring spinner Digvesh Rathi (2/30), the rest of Lucknow’s all-Indian bowling attack had a forgettable time out in the middle.
Strokeplay at its best
The Kings lost Prabhsimran’s opening partner Priyansh Arya towards the end of the third over to Rathi, with 26 runs on the board. But from there, the kind of batting Prabhsimran did simply rendered the Super Giants’ bowlers helpless. Their helplessness turned worse as Shreyas too complemented the keeper-batter with his fluency and, of course, aggression.
The stability that Shreyas provided made the going easier for Prabhsimran, whose innings comprised nine boundaries and three huge sixes. Even experienced bowlers like Shardul Thakur and Avesh Khan seemed to have no clue before the onslaught from Prabhsimran and Shreyas as the pair clobbered 84 in only 7.2 overs.
The Prabshsimran-Shreyas stand as good as sealed the game for the Kings.
What stood out in Prabhsimran’s innings were his innovative shots.
“I have practised those a lot, and it was good that I could connect a few in this game,” the Man of the Match said.
Talking about his mindset, Prabsimran said: “The team management asks us to go with just one mindset, and that is of winning. We are asked to back our game. I just have to make sure that if I get set, I need to finish off the game.
“Besides, this (IPL) is a platform from where you can achieve your goal of playing for India.”
Shreyas finished with three boundaries and four maximums, as the Kings romped home with 22 balls
to spare.
Bowling changes
Earlier, skipper Shreyas’s bowling changes and field placings played their part in keeping a leash on the Lucknow innings after the Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Shreyas had the option of giving the new ball to Marco Jansen, but he brought in the lanky South Africa quick later. Jansen tends to spray the new ball everywhere and leak runs, which must have been on Shreyas’s mind.
Instead, he made Lockie Ferguson bowl in tandem with Arshdeep Singh with the new ball and that earned the Kings success, with the New Zealander accounting for Aiden Markram. Jansen bowling late helped him have the better of David Miller just before the slog overs.
Leg-spinner Chahal risked being taken to the cleaners, especially with Nicholas Pooran well set. In just his previous over, Pooran had slammed the leg-break bowler for two fours and a six, yet Shreyas persisted with Chahal and the move paid off.
Besides, on most occasions, Shreyas had the fielders in the right positions, which never really allowed the Super Giants batters to get away at any point.
