AHMEDABAD: In a battle of ‘Impact Players,’ Punjab Kings’ Vijaykumar Vyshak bowled two tight overs, denying Gujarat Titans’ Sherfane Rutherford the ideal length to extend his arms, while left-arm pacer Marco Jansen dismissed Jos Buttler (54 off 33 balls) in the 18th over to derail Titans’ spirited chase of 244 and help the visitors claim an 11-run win here on Tuesday.
The hero of the day was Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer (97* off 42 balls), who led from the front with a belligerent unbeaten knock as the visitors posted 243/5. Iyer was ably supported by meaningful contributions from middle-order batter Shashank Singh (44* off 16 balls) and opener Priyansh Arya (47 off 23 balls) as the Kings commenced their quest for a maiden IPL title by posting a huge total.
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Titans’ captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan (74 off 41 balls) subsequently got the hosts off to a swift 61-run opening stand before Gill was dismissed. Buttler and Sudharsan then added 84 runs in 40 balls to put the Titans back on track.
After Sudharsan’s dismissal, Rutherford smashed 18 off his first seven balls to reduce the target to 75 off 36 balls. Vyshak, though, despite bowling wides, bowled fast and outside off to stymie Rutherford. The West Indian batter’s inability to rotate the strike also increased the pressure on Buttler, who was bowled by Jansen.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh castled Rutherford (46 off 28 balls) in the last over to seal Gujarat’s fate.
Earlier, when Punjab batted, southpaw Priyansh Arya gave ample demonstration of the potential he holds at this level with a chancy yet breezy knock. Iyer came in early, after the dismissal of Prabhsimran Singh, who was caught at third man by Arshad Khan off Kagiso Rabada’s bowling.
Arya, meanwhile, flicked Mohammed Siraj over deep square leg for a six before smashing a flurry of boundaries off left-arm pacer Arshad Khan’s bowling in the fifth over. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan ended Arya’s knock after the latter scooped a delivery to Sai Sudharsan at cover.
His dismissal brought in former Titan Azmatullah Omarzai, who greeted Khan with a six straight over his head.
Marcus Stoinis and Iyer added 57 for the fifth wicket before a reverse sweep led to Stoinis’s downfall. Thereafter, it was the Shashank-Iyer show. The duo clobbered 87 runs off the last five overs to take the Kings to the highest total scored on this ground.
Iyer’s strong start to the season is good news for the batter and for Punjab. His reunion with coach Ricky Ponting at the franchise might just galvanise the outfit into providing stronger and more consistent performances this season, something they have lacked at crunch times in recent seasons.
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