SHREYAS IYER led Punjab Kings to a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League on Friday. The result took Punjab to the top of the table and marked their second win in a row.
Chennai, put in to bat, posted 209-5 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium despite losing Sanju Samson in the second over, caught behind off Xavier Bartlett.
Punjab chased down the target with 210-5, registering their ninth successful chase of a 200-plus total in the IPL.
Ayush Mhatre scored 73 off 43 balls to give Chennai early runs. Sarfaraz Khan added 32 off 12 balls in the middle overs, and Shivam Dube finished unbeaten on 45 off 27 after being 14 off 14 earlier.
Mhatre took five balls to open his account but then hit multiple fours and sixes. He was dropped on 59 and 67, both times off Yuzvendra Chahal, who bowled three overs. He added 96 runs for the second wicket with Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Punjab took the wickets of Gaikwad, Mhatre and Kartik Sharma in quick succession. Sarfaraz then scored quickly, and Dube added runs at the end, with 64 runs coming in the last five overs.
Punjab started the chase quickly through Priyansh Arya, who hit several fours and sixes. Prabhsimran Singh supported him as they added 61 for the first wicket. Arya scored 39 off 11 balls with three fours and four sixes.
Prabhsimran and Cooper Connolly added 34 for the second wicket. Connolly then put on 32 with Shreyas before being caught off Anshul Kamboj. Punjab needed 83 off 49 balls at that stage.
Shreyas then accelerated, hitting Rahul Chahar for two sixes in the 13th over. He followed it with a four and a six off Matt Henry in the 15th over to reach his fifty in 26 balls.
Marcus Stoinis and Shashank Singh completed the chase with eight balls remaining, handing Chennai their second loss in a row.
