Shreyas Iyer showed off his batting skills again in the IPL 2025, hitting his second half-century as the Punjab Kings stormed past the Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday. He finished the match with an unbeaten score of 50, which included three fours and four sixes. It was quite a show from Shreyas, and it didn’t go unnoticed. Both fans and cricket experts had a lot of good things to say about his performance. Even the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, known for his sharp commentary and deep cricket wisdom, mentioned that Shreyas hasn’t received the recognition he should have for leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in 2024. Gavaskar pointed out that Shreyas led that team but didn’t quite get the credit for all the hard work he put in.
On top of Shreyas’ efforts, another standout was the energetic Prabhsimran Singh. In just 34 balls, he blasted his way to an impressive 69, making it look easy as the Punjab Kings completely outperformed the Lucknow side, winning by eight wickets. Chasing down a target of 172 runs wasn’t daunting for Punjab, especially not with Prabhsimran pushing the boundaries early in the game. He took apart the Lucknow bowling attack in the first ten overs, hitting nine fours and three sixes, pretty much sealing the game right there.
Once Prabhsimran set the tone, it was smooth sailing for Shreyas Iyer, who comfortably scored 52 runs off just 30 balls, wrapping up the chase in a mere 16.2 overs. This performance only added to the pressure on Rishabh Pant, the Lucknow captain, who seemed to be struggling to find a solution for his team’s woes. Youngster Nehal Wadhera also contributed well with a steady 43 runs off 25 balls, managing to find some form towards the end of the innings.
The key moments of the match were certainly in the two Powerplays. Lucknow struggled badly, losing three top-order batsmen early and being in a tough spot at 39 for 3. That left a lot of pressure on their middle order to step up. On the other hand, Punjab’s bowlers did brilliantly as a team. Each bowler played their part, with Arshdeep Singh taking three wickets for 43 runs from four overs, Lockie Ferguson doing his bit with a couple of wickets, and Marco Jansen and the spinners, Glenn Maxwell and Yuzvendra Chahal, keeping the pressure on as well. Overall, this match was a clear statement from the Punjab Kings against a Lucknow team that certainly has to go back to the drawing board after this defeat.
