New Chandigarh, April 8 Priyansh Arya’s (103) sublime maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) century, Shashank Singh’s unbeaten half-century (52*) and a late knock by Marco Jansen(34 not out) saw the Punjab Kings rack-up 219/6 in 20 overs against the Chennai Super Kings here on Tuesday.
The superb batting effort helped the Punjab Kings post the highest total at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in the tournament.
The 24-year-old Priyansh Arya scored the fastest century, off 39 deliveries, against the Super Kings and tied Travis Head for the fourth-fastest century in tournament history. It was also the second-fastest century by an Indian batter in the tournament after Yusuf Pathan.
The young left-handed opener played a brilliant 42-ball, 103-run innings before being dismissed by Noor Ahmad. His innings was laced with seven boundaries and nine sixes as he tore through the Chennai bowling attack.
For the bowlers, Khaleel Ahmed and Ravichandran Ashwin, despite being hit for many runs, claimed two wickets each.
Arya gave the Punjab Kings the perfect start by smashing Khaleel Ahmed’s delivery for a six on the first ball of the game before being dropped by the bowler on the very next delivery, and proceeded to hit the pacer for 17 in the opening over.
However, Chennai hit back when Mukesh Choudhary castled Prabhsimran Singh (0) in the next over. Shreyas Iyer (9) looked in good hitting form but was once again beaten by Khaleel and bowled over shortly after. Marcus Stoinis (4) will certainly be disappointed by his performance as he hit the ball straight to Devon Conway, off Ahmed, at backward point.
Arya aimed to stabilise the innings and continued hitting the ball over the park, and ended the power-play by hitting Ravichandran Ashwin for a four and two sixes. Ashwin certainly showed glimpses of his great self on the night when he dismissed Nehal Wadhera (9) and Glenn Maxwell (1) in the same over to reduce the home side to 83/5 in eight overs.
From thereon out Shashank and Arya raised hell for the bowlers and stitched a 71-run stand off 34 deliveries. Arya once again rode his luck, while batting at 79, when he was caught by Mukesh Choudhary, but he stepped onto the ropes deeming it a six.
He then raised his century in style by hitting three consecutive sixes of Matheesha Pathirana before edging the next ball for four to reach the three-figure mark. He is the second batter to reach the milestone in this edition after Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 106 against the Rajasthan Royals.
Arya soon departed after reaching the century milestone but Marco Jansen (34*) and Shashank continued the heavy hitting. The duo raised 65 runs for the seventh wicket which also saw Shashank raise his third IPL half-century on the final ball of the innings.
Brief score:
Punjab Kings 219/6 in 20 overs (Priyansh Arya 103, Shashank Singh 52*, Marco Jansen 34*; Khaleel Ahmed 2-45, Ravichandran Ashwin 2-48) vs Chennai Super Kings
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