Ahmedabad, March 25 (NationPress) Captain Shreyas Iyer unleashed fury on the bowlers of the Gujarat Titans with his unbeaten score of 97, along with impactful performances from Priyansh Arya and Shashank Singh, enabling the Punjab Kings to establish a formidable total of 243/5 in 20 overs during Match 5 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.

For the Titans, Sai Kishore stood out as the most effective bowler, claiming three wickets.

Iyer maintained his remarkable form from the Champions Trophy, achieving a striking strike rate of 230.95 in an innings that featured nine sixes and five fours.

After losing the toss and being invited to bat, debutant Arya kicked off his IPL career with a bang, capitalizing on a dropped catch by Arshad Khan in the second over and aggressively targeting the Gujarat bowlers following the early exit of Prabhsimran Singh.

Together with Iyer, Arya aggressively attacked the bowling unit, including a 21-run over against Arshad. However, Titans captain Shubman Gill turned to his reliable spinner, Rashid Khan, who provided a crucial breakthrough. Arya attempted a big hit off Rashid's fourth delivery in the seventh over, resulting in a top edge that Arshad successfully caught on his second attempt.

The introduction of Kishore proved pivotal for the Titans. After conceding just two runs in his initial over, he first dismissed Azmatullah Omarzai and then disrupted power-hitter Glenn Maxwell's return to Punjab by trapping him LBW on the next ball.

After discussing with his captain, the all-rounder chose not to review the decision, despite replays indicating the ball was missing the stumps. Nevertheless, Iyer thwarted Gujarat’s comeback efforts by forming a 57-run partnership with Marcus Stoinis before Kishore dismissed the latter.

Iyer and Shashank Singh continued to smash boundaries, reaching a 50-run partnership in just 17 balls, largely due to Iyer’s explosive hitting off Prasidh Krishna. Iyer scored 24 runs in the 17th over, including three sixes and one four. Shashank also contributed significantly, showcasing the depth of the Kings’ batting lineup this season.

With Iyer remaining at 97, Shashank struck five fours in the final over, finishing with an unbeaten 44 off 16 balls, while Iyer fell just three runs short of his first IPL century.

Brief scores:

Punjab Kings 243/5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 97*, Priyansh Arya 47, Shashank Singh 44*; Sai Kishore 3-30, Kagiso Rabada 1-41, Rashid Khan 1-48) vs Gujarat Titans