Shreyas hits unbeaten 97, sets up PBKS win over GT

Punjab Kings skipper stranded at the non-striker's end as 23 runs were hit in final over of innings

- Somshuvra Laha

KOLKATA: How exacting can it be watching the ball and reacting to it? Ask Shashank Singh, so invested in the process that he couldn't spare a ball for Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer to complete what would have been his first IPL hundred. Iyer was sold on the tradeoff though, because not often do batters strike this cleanly in tandem.

Priyansh Arya marked his debut with a scintillating 23-ball 47 at the top, Iyer blazed 97* off 42 balls, but Shashank's strike rate was a gobsmacking 275; 44 off 16 balls, 23 of them in the last over, in an eighth-wicket partnership of 81 in 26 balls—this was a hiding that spelt out the difference in an 11-run win against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Critical was the 14th over from Vijaykumar Vyshak as well, conceding four singles and a wide when Titans needed 75 from 36 balls in their chase of 244. Laying the foundation for the chase with a 14-ball 33, Titans captain Shubman Gill was looking good for more till a leading edge off Glenn Maxwell—who logged a record 19th duck in IPL—put the onus on Sai Sudharsan.