Captain Shreyas Iyer (not out 69), Prerit Arya (57) and Prabhsimran Singh (51) powered Punjab Kings to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad with seven balls to spare in an IPL match on Saturday, registering their third victory in the tournament.
The opening pair of Prerit Arya and Prabhsimran Singh provided Punjab Kings with an aggressive start, putting on 99 runs for the first wicket. The partnership was broken in the seventh over when Shubhang Hegde dismissed Prerit Arya. Prerit made 57 off just 20 balls, hitting five fours and five sixes. In the ninth over, Shubhang Hegde struck again, dismissing Prabhsimran Singh, who made 51 off 25 balls. Cooper Connolly was Shubhang's third victim, making 11, while in the 17th over, Harsh Dubey bowled out Naveen-ul-Haq to give Punjab their fourth jolt. However, captain Shreyas Iyer played a responsible innings, making an unbeaten 69 off 33 balls, hitting five fours and five sixes, to take Punjab to victory.
Punjab Kings achieved the target in 18.5 overs, losing four wickets for 223 runs. Shashank Singh remained not out on 16. Earlier, Abhishek Sharma (74), Heinrich Klaasen (39) and Travis Head (38) had powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a total of 220 runs. Punjab had won the toss and opted to bowl first. For Hyderabad, Abhishek and Travis Head had put on 120 runs for the first wicket, but Shashank Singh got both of them out in one over to bring Punjab back into the match. Abhishek Sharma made 74 off 28 balls, hitting eight sixes.
Captain Aiden Markram made 27 off 17 balls before being dismissed by Arshdeep Singh. Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a big total of 219 for six in their allotted 20 overs, but failed to defend it. For Punjab, Shashank Singh and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets each, while Xavier Bartlett accounted for one batsman.