Shreyas keeps Punjab Kings' playoff hopes alive

Shreyas Iyer stood tall and scored a majestic maiden IPL century to shepherd the Punjab Kings up for a seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in their Tata Indian Premier League match in Lucknow on Saturday evening.

Shreyas, the Punjab Kings captain, won the toss and elected to bowl first. His bowlers restricted LSG to 196/6 in 20 overs. Shreyas and company needed 18 overs to reach 200/3 and claim victory.

Shreyas walked into a crisis. The visitors were on 22/2 after 2.2 overs when he arrived at the crease. The skipper took control of the innings and scored an outstanding unbeaten 101 from 51 balls in a chanceless innings. The 31-year-old has passed the 50-run mark six times this season; however, he made this one count by converting it to triple figures. He reached the milestone with a six. They were also the winning runs.

Shreyas shared a match-winning 140-run third-wicket partnership with Prabhsimran Singh. The duo alternated in taking the attack to the LSG bowling attack. Shreyas went on the offensive early in their partnership before stepping back after Prabhsimran found his stride. The opener raced to a 39-ball 69 after a sluggish start to his innings. Like Shreyas, this is his sixth half-century of the season. However, unlike his captain, it wasn't a chanceless knock. Prabhsimran was dropped a couple of times.

Unlike LSG, who had a dip in their run rate in the middle overs, Prabhsimran and Shreyas maintained a healthy rate through their partnership. The other difference between the two sides was that Shreyas stayed in the middle until the end, while LSG's set batters failed to see the innings through.

Earlier in the evening, Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen took four wickets between them to ensure that LSG did not mount a match-winning total. Chahal spun his way to two wickets for 25 runs in four overs and was the Punjab Kings' most successful bowler. Jansen chimed in with two wickets for 33 runs in four overs. It was a triumphant return to the starting eleven after a couple of games on the sidelines.

Josh Inglis laid the groundwork for LSG's total with a 44-ball 72. This is the Australian's third half-century in five outings this season. The opener faced 28 deliveries to reach the milestone. He shared a 49-run third-wicket partnership with Ayush Badoni that helped LSG consolidate. Inglis watched from the non-striker's end as Badoni mounted a one-man fightback against a Punjab Kings bowling attack.

Badoni struck 41 runs in the final two overs of the powerplay to reset LSG's radar. Badoni scored 43 runs from 18 balls. Inglis took over in the wake of Badoni's dismissal. He added 51 runs from the next 30 deliveries he faced. Inglis departed when he was caught by Shreyas Iyer on the long-on boundary while trying to slog a Shashank Singh delivery over the ropes. Unfortunately for LSG, Inglis and Badoni's efforts were not enough.

The result leaves the Punjab Kings in fourth place. They have 15 points from 14 games. Their fate now lies in the hands of the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, who are in fifth and sixth place respectively. Both sides play on Sunday and have an opportunity to either pass or tie Punjab Kings' points tall. LSG remains in last place.

LSG: Josh Inglis, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Arjun Tendulkar, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav , Mohsin Khan.

PUNJAB KINGS: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.