Shreyas steers Punjab Kings to 5-wicket win

Skipper Shreyas Iyer’s half-century draped in elegance and aggression in equal measure was the centrepiece in Punjab Kings’ five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL match here on Friday.

Shreyas (50, 29 balls) and his 59-run alliance with Nehal Wadhera for the fourth wicket helped Punjab end up at 210 for five while chasing a competitive 209 on a dew-less Chepauk night, also consigning the hosts to their second successive defeat.

It was Punjab’s second win on the trot, but there were other heroes too on the night for the PBKS. Chasing a target at a run-rate closer to 11 required consistent and calm run-making and that was what PBKS precisely did through their top-order, with just about everyone chipping in.

Priyansh Arya (39, 11 balls), Prabhsimran Singh (43, 34b), Cooper Connolly (36, 22b) all came up with mentionable contributions.

Arya was quite brutal while vandalising CSK attack - Khaleel Ahmed was put away for a 4 and six while Matt Henry was dispatched for 4, 6, 4 in his first over that leaked 20 runs.

Arya and Prabhsimran cracked 61 runs in just 4.2 overs that gave a strong portend to the route the match was taking.

The Delhi batter was cleaned up by Henry to give a token relief to CSK, but none was more significant in PBKS’s march than their skipper Shreyas, who unfurled his full range of shots.

Shreyas started a bit slow reaching 8 off 9 balls, as Connolly was doing the bulk of the work. But once the Australian fell to Anshul Kamboj, Shreyas took over the chase.

As expected, he hammered the spinners, and the shot of the innings was an inside-out six off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar.

Shreyas brought up his fifty in 26 balls with a boundary off Kamboj, but soon fell to the bowler, chasing a wide delivery.

Wadhera fell in the first ball of the next over to Henry as PBKS slipped to 186 for five from 186 for three.

However, that proved a minor aberration. Earlier, Ayush Mhatre showcased his abundant talent with a 43-ball 73, powering the Super Kings to a competitive 209 for five.

Mhatre and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (28) added 96 runs for the second wicket after Sanju Samson returned to the hut early.

Samson inexplicably moved down to the leg-side and tried to cart Xavier Bartlett’s out-swinger over covers, but all he could manage was a healthy edge to Prabhsimran behind the wicket.

But his dismissal proved a minor jitter, as Mhatre tore apart Punjab’s bowling with power and precision.

Pacer Bartlett was the aggrieved party early as Mhatre smashed him for three fours in a row - a loft through mid-wicket, a flick and a pull. His audacity helped CSK reach 57 for one in the Power Play.

Mhatre seemed to have put behind, at least for now, his issues against short-pitched balls, as the Mumbai young man later pulled Marco Jansen for a six.

Mhatre also punished Marcus Stoinis for two sixes in a row — both down the ground — and the first maximum also fetched his fifty in 29 balls.

But he shrugged a bit against the guiles of Yuzvendra Chahal, failing to read him well.

The veteran leg-spinner foxed Mhatre, 17 years younger to him, with a series of googlies, but fortune was not in favour of the former.

On 59, Mhatre was dropped by Vijayakumar Vyshak inside the circle and later on 67 by Shahshank Singh in the deep.

But luck eventually ran out as Mhatre’s attempt to steer Vyshak ended in the hands of Chahal at short third man, as both of them got their own piece of revenge.

Gaikwad was ousted by Chahal as CSK’s march dulled a bit between 10th and 15th overs, making just 45 runs.

Sarfaraz Khan (32, 12 balls) tried to instil some urgency into CSK innings while playing his trademark dabs and close-to-body shots for a flurry of boundaries.

But that knock coupled with a few strong hits by Shivam Dube (45, 27b).