Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 2 : Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer secured a flurry of records following his stunning knock against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), highlighting his relentless six-hitting ability, proven leadership and a hot streak at Ahmedabad.
During a tense run-chase of 204 runs, Iyer cracked open an unbeaten 87*, helping his side to their first final in 11 years and overall their second. His knock consisted of five fours and eight sixes, coming at a strike rate of 212.20.
Now in the ongoing season, Iyer has scored 603 runs in 16 innings at an average of 54.81 and a strike rate of 175.80, with six half-centuries. His best score is 97*. He is the sixth-highest run-getter currently.
However, the standout aspect of his tournament is the number of sixes he has hit, a total of 39 sixes, second-most by a batter this season behind Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Nicholas Pooran. He also overtook Virat Kohli (38 sixes as RCB captain in 2016) for the most sixes by a skipper during a single season in the IPL.
Iyer is also just four maximums short of surpassing explosive opener Abhishek Sharma of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who had 42 sixes in last season, the most by an Indian batter during a single season.
The 30-year-old also toppled Glenn Maxwell, who tonked 36 in his 2014 breakthrough IPL season for PBKS, becoming the player with the most sixes in a season for PBKS.
Now, he has 152 sixes in 132 IPL matches so far, with a total of 3,730 runs at an average of 34.53, with 27 fifties and a strike rate of 133.40.
His 87* is the second-highest score by a captain in IPL playoffs, behind David Warner's 93* for SRH in 2016 against Gujarat Lions.
This victory is also Iyer's 50th in IPL as a captain, making him only the fifth captain besides MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir to do so. So far in the IPL, Iyer has led Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and PBKS in a total of 86 matches, winning 50 of them, including two by tie and losing 34. Two matches ended in a no-result. His win percentage is over 58.13 per cent.
Only four IPL captains have fifty or more wins in IPL history, namely MS Dhoni (136 wins in 235 matches) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPG), Rohit Sharma (87 in 158 matches) for MI, Virat Kohli (66 wins in 143 matches) for RCB and Gautam Gambhir (71 wins in 129 matches) for DC and KKR.
Iyer has a stunning record at T20s held in Ahmedabad, scoring a total of 333 runs in seven innings at an average of 111.00, ending unbeaten four times. He has also scored four fifties, with the best score of 97*.
PBKS won the toss and opted to bowl first. After losing Rohit Sharma early, a 51-run stand between Jonny Bairstow (38 in 24 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (44 in 29 balls, with two fours and two sixes) pushed MI forward. A 72-run partnership for the third wicket between Tilak and Suryakumar Yadav (44 in 26 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) helped MI keep a healthy run rate. All MI then needed was a final push from Naman Dhir (37 in 18 balls, with seven fours) to take MI to 203/6 in 20 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai (2/43) was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS. Kyle Jamieson, Marcus Stoinis, Yuzi Chahal and Vijaykumar Vyshak took a wicket each.
In the run chase, PBKS had some stumbles initially despite a blitz from Josh Inglis (38 in 21 balls, with five fours and a six), who took down Jasprit Bumrah for 20 runs in an over.
An 84-run stand between Nehal Wadhera (48 in 29 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and skipper Shreyas Iyer helped PBKS maintain the required tempo for the chase. After quick dismissals of Wadhera and Shashank reduced PBKS to 169/5 in 16.4 overs, a ruthless Shreyas (87* in 41 balls, with five fours and eight sixes) took down pace to guide his team to five wicket win with an over left.
Ashwani Kumar (2/55) was the top bowler for MI. Trent Boult (1/38) and Hardik Pandya (1/19) took one wicket each. Bumrah was wicketless for 40 runs in four overs.
Iyer was given the 'Player of the Match' honour for his clutch knock.
The final between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru is set for Tuesday at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
