Punjab Kings added yet another sizeable pursuit to their growing collection on Thursday night, reeling in 210 against Chennai Super Kings with five wickets in hand and eight balls unused. It is, remarkably, the ninth time they have overhauled a target above 200 in the IPL – more than any other side – and the manner felt familiar: start fast, share the load, finish with a bit to spare.
Priyansh Arya lit the fuse by creaming the first two legal deliveries for four and six. He kept going, too, thumping an 11-ball 39 at a strike-rate touching 355. Those three overs left CSK’s new-ball pair searching for answers and pushed Punjab past fifty before the fourth over was done. In many ways it was the distilled version of a message the captain keeps repeating.
“We’ve just decided in the dressing room that whatever happens, we are going to play a brand of cricket which is to impress each other, not others outside,” Shreyas Iyer said afterwards. “So that gives us a certain sort of clarity as well, when we approach the game. It is basically challenging each other inside the dressing room, not outside.”
The batting card backed him up. All of the top four came in somewhere between 36 and 50; three of them operated above 160. Iyer himself produced an even fifty that bridged the early charge and the closing act, allowing Marcus Stoinis and Shashank Singh to ease the tension with late boundaries.
“I’m glad that everyone’s getting to bat in the first two games itself,” the skipper added. “That gives immense confidence for the team as well. Whenever we’re stuck in a pressure situation, people are aware of how to handle them.”
Of course, chasing 210 usually means something went awry in the field. CSK’s own innings rattled along once Ayush Mhatre settled, assisted by Ruturaj Gaikwad’s timing through the powerplay and Shivam Dube’s heavy hitting thereafter. Punjab’s bowlers, slower to adjust than they would like, also had one eye on the dreaded over-rate sanction.
“I think it was a belter to bat on,” Iyer admitted. “But the way we started was 25 off 3 overs. Suddenly they started picking up from there. But it’s important that we remain calm. And also the over rate is something we should look up to right now, because five fielders coming in in the last two overs, you sort of know that there’s one line to bowl. That’s the only part we need to focus on.”
Plenty to tighten, then, yet Punjab head to their next fixture 2-0 and apparently comfortable living on the high-wire.
