Thursday, April 16, 2026

IPL: How Shreyas Iyer outgunned different huge hitters to assist PBKS efficiently chase 220

0

4 min learnUp to date: Apr 11, 2026 09:47 PM IST

The Punjab juggernaut continues with back-to-back 200 chases as SRH hunch to their third defeat in 4 video games

Till the 14th over of their 220-run chase in Mullanpur, the Punjab Kings innings mirrored the Sunrisers’ effort from earlier within the night. The openers had maximised the Powerplays earlier than falling in succession, adopted by a stark reflection on the scoring charges. The variations ended nearly there, with skipper Shreyas Iyer (69 not out of 33 balls) making certain that the dip was solely momentary for his aspect.

In two overs the place the short-ball was put to the check, Iyer flipped the probes from Harshal Patel and Eshan Malinga right into a game-defining burst. He pummeled a typical Harshal slower-ball over deep sq. leg for six, setting off on a scorching streak of 28 runs in seven balls that sealed the chase. Smiting the slingy Malinga off an identical size, 91 metres again over the deep mid-wicket stands, successfully stubbed the chase. Punjab would stroll dwelling with seven balls to spare on a second 200-plus chase in succession. Loaded in the identical code as their counterparts, Punjab openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya’s fifties had erased a hefty chunk of the chase, recording 93 within the first six overs. They peppered 18 boundaries between them, providing a clean handover for Iyer to increase Punjab’s unbeaten run.

Powerplay scorcher

The raging theme of the night was the brutal Powerplay storm, which yielded almost 45 per cent of the complete runs scored within the sport.

The standard to dominate the section continues to assist Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma return to beat ignominies as a pair.

Iyer’s males had cues to choose up from SRH’s earlier dwelling sport when a artful Mohammad Shami’s slower-ball ploys plugged Head and Abhishek in 10 deliveries between them. When Abhishek adopted a slash to the quilt fence off a free first supply from Arshdeep Singh with a watchful push to the off-side, the indicators of willingness to mood selections have been glimpsed.

However two distinct 24-run overs in instant succession would stop the necessity for overt adjustments.

Arshdeep’s try to offer his statemate a stiff check of their yard was flattened by his personal feeble deliveries. Two fours and as many 120 kph-ers blasted for sixes powered Abhishek again into overdrive, the reminiscence of his first-ball duck from the earlier sport ditched conveniently.

Abhishek welcomed V Vysakh with a cost straight out of a online game for a six over additional cowl. A balletic swing of the arms would ship one other ball hovering over long-off. Zooming previous fifty in 18 balls with a six parried over long-on, Abhisek wrote 24 for the over with a hold-the-pose most down the bottom at shut. With Head conveniently reclined to pierce the gaps and Abhishek’s launchers powering the workforce previous 100 within the Powerplay for the third time collectively. No workforce or pair has ever achieved this feat in T20s.

‘Circuit-breaker’

PBKS assistant coach James Hopes calls Shashank Singh the “circuit breaker”, a disaster man gifted with magical wrists. He had despatched down solely three overs in 33 video games earlier than for Punjab, however within the right here and now, Shashank appeared just like the apt match to chop tempo on the ball. He bowled after the Powerplay. Head went first, deceived by the slower one which consigned his catch to lengthy on. Shashank then produced that priceless recall. Wafting an angled supply throughout the turf, Shashank nipped Abhishek (74) out at deep cowl, because it did towards the identical bowler again in 2024, his solely wicket till this night.

Story continues under this advert

An ingenious transfer and Punjab seamlessly assumed management. Jotted by a largely spotless seam rebound on the loss of life, Hyderabad yielded solely 28 from the final 4 overs of tempo, unravelling extra woes.

Lalith Kalidas

Lalith Kalidas is a Senior Sub-Editor with the sports activities workforce at The Indian Specific (digital), the place he makes a speciality of cricket protection.

Primarily based on his profile and up to date work, listed here are the important thing particulars about him:

Skilled Background
Position: He works with the net sports activities desk, focusing totally on the happenings within the cricket world, with a selected curiosity in India’s home cricket circuit.

Experience: He’s recognized for data-driven tales and statistical evaluation. He writes a weekly stats-based column titled ‘Stats Nook’.

Expertise: He has over 5 years of expertise in sports activities journalism. Earlier than becoming a member of The Indian Specific in February 2024, he labored for Sportstar (a part of The Hindu group).

Schooling: He holds a Bachelor of Journalism diploma from Madras Christian Faculty.

Sports activities Background: He’s a former cricketer who represented Kerala in state-level tournaments, which regularly informs his technical evaluation of the sport.

Notable Current Work & Beats

Sequence Protection: He has been extensively masking the India vs. South Africa sequence (2024–2025), together with tactical breakdowns of gamers like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, and Abhishek Sharma.

Investigative Journalism: He not too long ago authored a serious investigative sequence for The Indian Specific relating to the Cricket Affiliation of Puducherry (CAP), exploring points like “short-cuts” to the massive leagues, dodgy information, and the way a non-public agency took over the affiliation.

Main Occasions: He was a part of the workforce that lined the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India.

IPL Evaluation: He gives in-depth protection of the IPL auctions and the rise of uncapped gamers.

You may comply with his newest articles and updates on his Indian Specific profile web page or through his social media hyperlinks (X/Twitter and LinkedIn) listed there. … Learn Extra

Keep up to date with the most recent sports activities information throughout Cricket, Soccer, Chess, and extra. Catch all of the motion with real-time stay cricket rating updates and in-depth protection of ongoing matches.

© The Indian Specific Pvt Ltd