India batsman Shreyas Iyer led from the front with an unbeaten 97 to set up an 11-run win for Punjab Kings in a big-hitting IPL clash with Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.
Iyer's 42-ball knock steered the team to 243-5 after being invited to bat first at the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat finished on 232-5 despite a valiant 41-ball 74 by opener Sai Sudharsan who set up a blazing start to the run chase, featuring a 84-run second wicket stand with England's Jos Buttler (54).
Both sides walloped 16 sixes each across the two innings on the fourth day of the cash-rich Indian Premier League T20 tournament.
Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to a title win last year, has already gone some way to justifying his top price tag, after Punjab paid a whopping 3.17 million dollars for him in the November auction.
"Ecstatic, to be honest," said Iyer. "Getting 97 not out in the first match is always the icing on the cake. No better feeling to be honest"
The top-order batter started with a boundary off Gujarat's South African import Kagiso Rabada and three balls later smashed a six.
"It was important for me to go ahead and adapt. I got four off the first ball, and that gave an immense boost. That flicked six off Rabada -- I think the momentum changed.
Iyer allowed attacking opener Priyansh Arya to take charge as the Indian young left-hander hammered 47 off 23 deliveries before being denied his fifty by Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan.
Gujarat's Sai Kishore joined the bowling charge to strike twice in two balls, including trapping Australia's Glenn Maxwell lbw for a first-ball duck, but Marcus Stoinis avoided the hat-trick.
- 'Got our chances' -
Maxwell walked back without a review but tracking technology later revealed the ball would have gone over the stumps as a dejected Punjab coach Ricky Ponting looked upset.
Iyer stood strong as he took on the attack with sixes and fours and found support from Australian hard-hitter Stoinis, who smashed a 15-ball 20 before becoming Kishore's third wicket.
Iyer reached his fifty in 27 balls and kept up the charge as he struck three sixes and a four in a 24-run over off seam bowler Prasidh Krishna.
Iyer went past his previous IPL best of 96 but missed out on his century as partner Shashank Singh dominated the strike in the latter stages and finished on an unbeaten 16-ball 44.
Iyer and Shashank hammered 81 runs between them in 28 balls to finish with a flourish.
"We got our chances when we were bowling and batting," said Gujarat skipper Shubman Gill. "Too many runs we conceded in the back end of the innings."
In reply, the left-handed Sudharsan and Gill, who hit 33 off 14 balls, handed Gujarat a blazing start but the ever-increasing run-rate made the home team fall behind the chase despite having wickets in hand.
Sudharsan fell to left-arm pace bowler Arshdeep Singh and Buttler, after reaching his fifty, was bowled by South African left-arm quick Marco Jansen.
Impact player Sherfane Rutherford, a left-handed West Indian hard-hitter, made a desperate effort to pull off a miracle with his 28-ball 46 before falling to Arshdeep in the final over.
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