Shreyas Iyer’s outstanding knock of 97* (42) led the Punjab Kings to a thrilling 11-run victory over the Gujarat Titans on Tuesday in the 5th match of IPL 2025. Iyer came in at No. 3 and played a blazing innings of 97* off 42 balls to propel Punjab to 243/5, the second-highest total in their history.
Iyer played his inning against some of the best bowlers in the world like Rabada and Rashid Khan, and propelled the side to a total that they would fight hard to defend. After facing and turning down Rabada’s last ball in the final over of Iyer’s innings, and batting on 97*, Iyer let Shashank Singh complete the innings and denied himself the opportunity of facing the last ball and making a hundred. Along with Iyer, Priyansh Arya provided a solid start that set the foundation for Punjab’s total. The 24-year-old opener also showed his attacking intent during his innings making 8 boundaries in the powerplay to set the tone of the game for Punjab.
Shashank Singh, who made his entrance towards the end of the Punjab’s inning, wasted no movement in deciding to take on the bowlers. His 16-ball 44* all came in the last over when he blasted Mohammed Siraj for 23 runs. By the end, he had finished Punjab’s innings and moved them along the way to their target of 243 runs, which was going to take a big effort even for a powerful batting lineup of Gujarat Titans. In response, Gujarat Titans came out blaring with openers Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler getting themselves going from the start. Sudharsan, who had been in great form this season, ultimately top-scored for Gujarat with a blistering 74 runs off of just 41 balls.
Sudharsan’s innings gave Gujarat hope, as he piled on a lot of boundaries in the middle overs and got Gujarat to 169/2 with 6 overs left in the game. However, Punjab’s bowling unit stepped up to make important breakthroughs at crucial times with Vijaykumar Vyshak taking the charge.
Vyshak came in off a short run and had just been introduced into the attack, and controlled things decently with his next two overs during the 15th and 17th, hitting the line full and committing to the blockhole despite the evening dew that led to some challenging conditions. Ultimately, he went for just 10 runs in his two overs for the evening, breaking the speed of momentum that the Gujarat Titans were starting to set in during the chase.
Buttler’s 54 and Rutherford’s 46 went a long way in innings, but the Titans’ struggles in the death cost them when they mustered only 50 in the last five overs and finished 11 runs short at 232/5. The Punjab Kings victory came from powerful batting performances by Iyer and Singh, a solid opening innings by Arya, and contributions in tight overs with the ball towards the end of the innings. The Punjab win also came from an outstanding bowling performance from Vyshak, who had two important overs and shut it down for Punjab.
The game showcased the emergence of young players like Iyer, Arya, and Vyshak just confirmed how good this IPL season should be now that some new blood is able to create sparks. The Titans had the individual performances but needed to capitalize in the death, and this may raise plenty of questions for their tournament progress. Punjab will try to build from this win with Iyer leading the pack as he drives them somewhere in IPL 2025.
Scorecard: PBKS vs GT, 5th Match at Ahmedabad, IPL, Mar 25 2025
Punjab Kings 243/5
Shreyas Iyer 97* (42)
Priyansh Arya 47 (23)
Shashank Singh 44 (16)
Sai Kishore 3/30
Kagiso Rabada 1/41
Rashid Khan 1/48
Gujarat Titans 232/5
Sai Sudharshan 74 (41)
Jos Buttler 54 (33)
Sherfane Rutherford 46 (28) Arshdeep Singh 2/36
Glenn Maxwell 1/26
Marco Jansen 1/44
Result: Punjab Kings won by 11 Runs.
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