Shreyas Iyer made a dream debut as Punjab Kings captain, leading from the front with an unbeaten 97 to guide his side to an 11-run victory over Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Ecstatic, to be honest. Getting 97* in the first match is always the icing on the cake. No better feeling to be honest. It was important for me to go ahead and adapt. I got four off the first ball, which gave an immense boost. I think we adapted quickly.
Iyer, who smashed five boundaries and nine maximums in his 42-ball knock, said
His innings, supported by Priyansh Arya's blistering 47 off 23 balls and Shashank Singh's unbeaten 44 off just 16 balls, powered Punjab Kings to an imposing 243/5 in 20 overs.
Despite a valiant effort from Gujarat Titans, who rode on Sai Sudarshan's explosive 74 off 41 balls, as well as significant contributions from Jos Buttler (54) and Sherfane Rutherford (46), they fell short at 232/5.
Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill rued the missed opportunities.
We got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs we conceded in the back end of the innings... In those three overs in the middle, we scored around 18 runs. That, and our first three overs, we didn't score many runs. That cost us the game.
Gill said
Nevertheless, Gill highlighted the positives for his team.
Apart from that, many positives for us today. Not easy for someone to come and deliver those yorkers for someone who is on the bench. It's always a good wicket to bat on here..
Gill said
For Punjab Kings, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh impressed with figures of 2-36, while Marco Jansen also chipped in with 2-44.
Brief Scores
Punjab Kings 243/5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 97, Priyansh Arya 47; Sai Kishore 3-30, Kagiso Rabada 1-41, Rashid Khan 1-48)*beat Gujarat Titans 232/5 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 74, Jos Buttler 54, Sherfane Rutherford 46; Arshdeep Singh 2-36, Marco Jansen 2-44) by 11 runs.