When Shreyas Iyer scored 82 runs, and Punjab Kings posted 245/6 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he thought it was an above-par total as the visiting team was targeting 230 runs. However, what followed next was carnage by Abhishek Sharma, which left Iyer clueless. He couldn’t do anything after getting angry and frustrated. The 24-year-old batter gave them an opening when he was caught by Shashank Singh on the fourth delivery of the fourth over, but Yash Thakur had overstepped, leading to a no ball and a lifeline for the aggressive batter. Abhishek didn’t stop after that and went on to amass 141 runs off 55 deliveries, with the help of 14 fours and 10 sixes, as SRH won the game by 8 wickets in 18.3 overs.
Although Sharma mistimed a couple of shots, the ball landed safely between the fielders. Iyer lauded the batter but reminded everyone that he was lucky as well.
“It was a fantastic total. Abhishek Sharma was lucky as well. We also missed a couple of catches, but he played a world-class knock against us. We didn’t bowl well and now there is a need to go back to the drawing board to work on the concerns. The opening partnership between Abhishek and Travis Head was phenomenal,” Iyer said after the match.
He also blamed himself for the defeat. “I didn’t rotate the bowlers properly. Losing Lockier Ferguson was a big setback. I don’t want to use it as an excuse, as other bowlers are also capable of taking wickets. I thought 230 would be enough, but we got more than that. The ball was stopping a bit, and the pitch was slow in the first innings. It becomes easy for the batters due to dew in the second essay. Still, it was one of the best innings I have seen in my life,” he added.
PBKS pacer Ferguson was injured just two balls and didn’t bowl again in the contest.
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