AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer blazed a masterful unbeaten 97 off 42 balls and started his new stint as captain of Punjab Kings with a 11-run victory over Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title last year, smacked nine sixes and five fours as he anchored Punjab to 243-5 with Shashank Singh hammering 44 not out off just 16 balls.
Gujarat ran out of steam in the death overs to finish at 232-5 despite Sai Sudharsan (74) and Jos Buttler (54) keeping them in the hunt at the home ground.
Captain Shubman Gill and left-hander Sudharsan scored over 12 an over in the powerplay before Glenn Maxwell broke the quick stand when he found the leading edge of Gill’s bat off his fifth ball.
But Sudharsan kept going at a healthy rate and smashed six sixes and five boundaries as he added further 84 runs off just 40 balls with Buttler.
Iyer’s ploy to bring back his ace fast bowler Arshdeep Singh paid off in the 13th over when Sudharsan timed the ball well on the leg side but found the fielder in the outfield.
Punjab’s impact player Vijaykumar Vyshak bowled well in the death overs and the pressure finally got onto Buttler, who was bowled by Marco Jansen off the inside edge in the 18th over.
Sherfane Rutherford made 46 off 28 balls before Arshdeep had the West Indian left-hander bowled through an inside edge in the final over to seal the game.
Iyer all the way
Punjab opener Priyansh Arya made a brisk 47 off 23 balls and dominated the powerplay before Iyer showed his intent of scoring big when he hit his fourth ball for a six after he came to bat at No. 3.
Rashid Khan (1-48) took the wicket in his first over when Arya was caught at short cover and Sai Kishore (3-30) was on a hat-trick as he squeezed the runs. Glenn Maxwell could have survived but he didn’t go for a lbw television referral against Kishore.
Iyer hit Kishore and Rashid for two sixes each. Gujarat seemed to have clawed its way back when Marcus Stoinis was dismissed while going for reverse sweep against Kishore in the 16th over before Shashank and Iyer exploded in the final 28 balls.
Iyer smacked fast bowler Prasidh Krishna for 24 runs that included three sixes and a boundary in the 17th over and Shashank followed it up with 20 runs to ruin Rashid's final figures.
Iyer was in sight of a century, but couldn’t find the strike in the final over as Shashank smashed five fours off the 20th over from Muhammed Siraj, who returned with expensive figures of 0-54 off his four overs, conceding 23 runs of his last over.
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The Associated Press
