Shreyas Iyer’s maiden IPL hundred helps PBKS beat LSG by 7 wickets
Shreyas Iyer’s majestic unbeaten 101 guided Punjab Kings to a seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants, ending a six-match losing streak. The victory lifted PBKS to 15 points, keeping their IPL playoff hopes alive amid tight qualification scenarios
Lucknow: Punjab Kings rediscovered their winning touch after six defeats in a row, with skipper Shreyas Iyer’s majestic unbeaten 101 helping them hand Lucknow Super Giants a seven-wicket thrashing to stay alive in the IPL playoff race here on Saturday.
Shreyas, whose maiden IPL hundred came off 51 balls, and Prabhsimran Singh (69 off 39 balls) added 140 runs for the third wicket as Punjab chased down LSG’s 196 for six in 18 overs. PBKS finished at 200 for three.
The victory helped Punjab reach 15 points from their 14 league matches and reclaim the No. 4 position in the table.
However, they will now have to endure an anxious wait to know their fate, as Rajasthan Royals (14 points) take on Mumbai Indians on Sunday in Mumbai.
If RR win the match, Punjab will enter the playoffs as the fourth-placed team with 15 points.
Kolkata Knight Riders (13 points), who are up against Delhi Capitals in the weekend’s second clash, also have an outside chance if RR fail to beat MI.
In that scenario, it will come down to net run rate between KKR and PBKS, with both teams potentially tied on 15 points. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans have already qualified for the playoffs.
But those qualification equations can wait, as Shreyas once again displayed nerves of steel during a chase with a fabulous knock.
Opener Priyansh Arya fell for a first-ball duck to Mohammad Shami (2/45), while the veteran India pacer uprooted Cooper Connolly’s off-stump as PBKS slipped into early trouble.
But Shreyas remained unfazed by those setbacks and, as expected, dominated both spinners and pacers alike with drives, pulls and his trademark flicks off the pads.
He was particularly severe on spinner Digvesh Rathi, peppering him with a flurry of on-side boundaries, while Prabhsimran — who survived chances on 20 and 62 — supported his skipper admirably.
Prabhsimran reached his sixth fifty of the season off 26 balls, while Shreyas got to the milestone in 33 deliveries.
After crossing fifty, Shreyas switched gears dramatically, scoring his next 51 runs off just 18 balls.
The dismissal of Prabhsimran, trapped leg-before by left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar, proved only a minor interruption as Punjab cruised towards the target.
Shreyas reached his century with a six off Mohsin Khan — a shot that also sealed PBKS’ victory — and earlier smashed Shami for three sixes in an over to accelerate Punjab’s march towards victory.
Earlier, Josh Inglis produced a typically aggressive 72 to guide LSG to a competitive 196 for six.
Inglis and Rishabh Pant (26 off 21 balls) added 65 runs for the fourth wicket as the already-eliminated Super Giants recovered from a shaky 69 for three in the seventh over.
Inglis’ 42-ball innings had two distinct phases. The first featured an assault on Arshdeep Singh in the opening over, with four boundaries fetching the Australian 16 runs.
He then played second fiddle briefly as Ayush Badoni took charge after the early dismissals of Arshin Kulkarni — opening in place of Mitchell Marsh — and Nicholas Pooran.
Badoni stole the spotlight in style, smashing 43 off 18 balls and adding 49 runs for the third wicket with Inglis.
He hammered Azmatullah Omarzai, the ICC’s top-ranked all-rounder, for 24 runs in the fifth over, including a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 4.
That assault helped LSG recover from the early departures of two top-order batters and finish the Powerplay strongly at 66 for two.
However, Badoni’s counterattack ended soon after, as Prabhsimran effected a sharp stumping off Yuzvendra Chahal, with DRS upholding the dismissal.
Inglis then resumed attacking mode, launching the second phase of his innings with a sequence of six, four and four off Arshdeep.
Overall, Inglis struck Arshdeep for six fours and two sixes, compounding the India left-arm pacer’s difficult season.
That brought Pant and Inglis together at the crease. Pant, who was dropped on 18 by Shreyas at cover off Chahal, was not at his fluent best but stayed long enough to provide valuable support to Inglis.
The Australian right-hander brought up his fifty in 28 balls but soon lost Pant, who fell to Chahal (2/25).
Inglis eventually perished to part-timer Shashank Singh, offering a simple catch to Shreyas at a straighter long-on position.
Abdul Samad (37 not out off 20 balls) struck a couple of big hits, but once Mukul Choudhary fell cheaply to Marco Jansen (2/33), LSG’s hopes of crossing the 200-run mark faded.
