Punjab Kings (PBKS) have started the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season with a tight win over the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Having lost the toss, PBKS put 243 on the board with Shreyas Iyer leading from the front along with great batting performances from Priyansh Arya and Shashank Singh.
Defending 243 didn’t prove to be easy. But an incredible death bowling performance from Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh and especially Vijaykumar Vyshak saw PBKS win their opening match.
PBKS Player Rating vs GT
Shreyas Iyer, 10/10: His best knock in the IPL. He anchored PBKS to 243 with an astonishing strike rate of 230.95. One can’t forget it was his debut match as captain and batter for the franchise. He also sacrificed his hundred for the team. Bringing Vijaykumar Vyshak as the impact sub in the 15th over was a masterstroke.
Arshdeep Singh, 10/10: The left-arm pacer might the best pacer in the IPL, now that Jasprit Bumrah isn’t playing. Arshdeep gave away just 8 runs from his first two over, both of which came in the powerplay. Then got the wicket of Sai Sudharsan when he had added 84 runs with Jos Buttler. Then he finished the game in the final over, taking another wicket in the process.
Shashank Singh, 10/10:The finisher has already paid PBKS back for the Rs 5.50 crore. His 44 (16) was absolute gold. Shashank scored 22 runs off Siraj in the final over and didn’t spare Rashid Khan either, hitting the spinner for 18 runs from 4 balls.
Vijaykumar Vyshak, 10/10: To come to bowl in the 15th over and give away just 28 runs in 3 overs is commendable. He decided to bowl outside off. Which worked brilliantly. He virtually killed the chase, bowling two back-to-back 5-run overs. Vyshak was hit for 18 runs in the penultimate over, but the match was already won by then.
Yuzvendra Chahal, 4/10: Of the 34 runs the spinner conceded, 29 came off Sudarshan’s bat. If not for the opener, Chahal may have been fine, but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t even bowl his full quota and went wicketless as well, which is not great for a strike bowler like him.
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Glenn Maxwell, 4/10: Was dismissed for a golden duck on his PBKS return. Was expensive with the ball as well but got the prized wicket of GT captain Shubman Gill, who scored 33 (14).
Priyansh Arya, 9/10: On his IPL debut, the 24-year-old opener from Delhi smashed 47 (23). His intent in the powerplay saw PBKS never slow down, as they went on to score 243. Priyansh took down two world-class pacers in Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada.
Prabhsimran Singh, 1/10: Scratchy innings, where he played and missed a few times. Finally was caught at third man off an edge, made 5 (8).
Azmatullah Omarzai, 1/10: Bad day at the office for the all-rounder. His team had a collective strike rate of over 200 while Omarzai was at 106.67. He had the chance to redeem himself with the ball but went for 29 runs in 2 overs. Dropped Sudharsan when he was on 30 as well.
Marcus Stoinis, 3/10: Played a rusted knock, 20 (15), when Shreyas was at his full flow. But he was worse with the ball. Stoinis went for 31 in his 2 overs. Was tad unlucky as Omarzai dropped Sudharsan off his bowling.
Marco Jansen, 5/10: The tall South African was taken for 24 runs in his first two overs. However, with 70 runs needed off 30 balls, Jansen gave away 20 runs and got a wicket as well. He gave away 8 fewer runs than what PBKS needed and sent Buttler back.
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