Punjab Kings’ Shreyas Iyer plays a shot during IPL 2025 match against Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Shreyas Iyer couldn’t have wished for a better start to his tenure as Punjab Kings skipper as he smashed an unbeaten 42-ball-97 before a disciplined bowling show by Arshdeep Singh and Impact Player Vyshak Vijaykumar guided the team to an 11-run win against Gujarat Titans in the IPL at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (March 25, 2025).
On a surface, where the ball came onto the bat nicely, Shreyas flexed his muscles and dealt in boundaries as the Kings overcame a middle-order fumble to post their second-highest total in the tournament.
However, the Titans put up a strong fight with Sai Sudharsan’S 41-ball-74 and Jos Buttler’s 33-ball-54 before Vyshak and Arshdeep closed out the game.
Titans, led by Shubman Gill, amassed 61 runs inside the PowerPlay before Glenn Maxwell dismissed the captain. However, with Sudharsan and Buttler in form, GT was in the hunt. Making the most of some sloppy fielding, they forged an 84-run partnership for the second wicket before Arshdeep removed Sudharsan.
Impact Player Sherfane Rutherford, however, looked fiery as the Titans inched closer. They needed 27 off the the final over. Arshdeep, however, kept his cool and gave away only 15.
Earlier, the Kings cruised to 73 for one in the PowerPlay, with the young Priyansh Arya dominating the bowlers with a flurry of boundaries. The left-hander made the most of a reprieve and put the Kings in the driver’s seat. He set the tone with 21 runs from Arshad Khan’s first over before falling three short of a maiden IPL fifty.
Shreyas played the big shots and deflated the Titans attack along with Shashank Singh. Shreyas missed out on a maiden hundred in the tournament as Shashank faced all the deliveries in the final over bowled by Mohammed Siraj and took him to the cleaners, amassing 23 runs. He remained unbeaten on a 16-ball 44.
As the spectators chanted his name, Shreyas hugged Shashank and walked off with a smile on his face.
Shreyas continued his good form from the Champions Trophy as he did not offer any chance to the star-studded bowling line-up.
He took Prasidh Krishna to the cleaners early on and did not even spare Afghanistan spin ace Rashid Khan. Shreyas’ fearless brand of cricket ensured that the Kings did not lose the plot despite Azmatullah Omarzai and Glenn Maxwell falling to Sai Kishore off consecutive deliveries.
The Kings plundered 87 runs off the last five overs.
Sai Kishore was the pick of the bowlers with a three-fer, while Prasidh and Siraj had a disappointing outing as they failed to justify Gill’s decision to bowl first.
Published – March 25, 2025 11:54 pm IST
