Chennai, April 4
Following his side's win over Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer hailed the opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya and hailed the pressure handling abilities of his team.
Courtesy of a hard-hitting 61-run stand between Prabhsimran and Priyansh and a half-century from skipper Shreyas Iyer, PBKS managed to sail past CSK's competitive total of 209 runs, securing their second win in two matches, while the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led CSK side still searches for a win.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Iyer said, "The way we started today, that was an exceptional start for us. I feel the way they (Arya and Prabhsimran) have been batting has been phenomenal, and it stabilises the rhythm for us."
Iyer also expressed happiness that in the course of these two matches, their entire batting line-up has had some time out there in the middle.
"It gives immense confidence to the team. Whenever we are in a pressure situation, people are aware on how to handle it. We just decided in the dressing room, we will play a brand of cricket to impress each other - that gives us a certain sort of clarity, and basically challenging each other," he added.
The PBKS skipper said that the over-rate is something the team has to look at going forward and spoke on spinner Yuzi Chahal's spell of 1/21 in three overs, which was left incomplete in favour of giving more overs to seamers.
"Over-rate is something we should look at (moving forward), and it is the only part we should focus on. (On not bowling out Chahal) Decided to go with the seamers (seeing the batters they had). We all know how impressive Chahal is, and whenever in doubt, I go to him," he signed off.
CSK have slipped to their second loss in the tournament, while PBKS have gained their second successive win. CSK was put to bat first, scoring 209/5, with knocks from Ayush Mhatre (73 in 43 balls, with six fours and five sixes), Shivam Dube (45* in 28 balls, with five fours and a six) and Sarfaraz Khan (32 in 12 balls, with six fours and a six) standing out.
In the run-chase, a 61-run stand between Priyansh Arya (39 in 11 balls, with three fours and four sixes) and Prabhsimran Singh (43 in 34 balls, with six fours and a six), a fiery 22-ball 36 from Cooper Connolly with six fours and a fifty from skipper Iyer (50 in 29 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) took PBKS to the target in 18.4 overs.
- ANI
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