Iyer joins elite list, becomes 4th captain to slam IPL century during run-chase

Iyer joined Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson in an elite IPL list during the must-win clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), scoring 101* in 51 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 198.04.

The captains who had earlier scored a century during run-chases were Virender Sehwag (119 against Deccan Chargers back in 2011), Virat Kohli (108* against Rising Pune Super Giant in 2016) and Sanju Samson (119 against Punjab Kings in 2021), as per Cricbuzz.

Iyer also became the third PBKS skipper to smash an IPL century after KL Rahul (132* vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 2020) and Adam Gilchrist (106 vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 2011).

Iyer also completed 7,000 runs in T20 cricket. Now in 254 T20 matches, Iyer has made 7,076 runs in 247 matches at an average of 35.02 and a strike rate of over 135, with four centuries and 48 fifties.

In the ongoing IPL, Iyer has scored 498 runs in 13 innings at an average of 55.33 and a strike rate of 168.01, with a century and five fifties, and his best score is 101*. For Punjab Kings (PBKS), Iyer has made 1,102 runs in 31 matches and 30 innings at an average of 52.47 and a strike rate of over 172, with a century and 11 fifties.

Coming to the match, PBKS opted to bowl first and fiery knocks from Josh Inglis (72 in 44 balls, with nine fours and two sixes), Ayush Badoni (43 in 18 balls, with five fours and three sixes), and Abdul Samad (37* in 20 balls, with three fours and three sixes) powered them to 196/6 in 20 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal (2/25) and Marco Jansen (2/33) were the pick of the bowlers for PBKS.

In the run-chase, Iyer (101* in 51 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes) and Prabhsimran Singh (69 in 39 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) served as the stars, taking them to a much-needed win to end their six match losing streak, with seven wickets and two overs left.

PBKS are back on the fourth spot in the points table with seven wins and six losses, with 15 points. If Rajasthan Royals (RR) wins against Mumbai Indians (MI) today, PBKS will be knocked out, with RR getting 16 points and the fourth playoff spot. If RR loses, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have to defeat Delhi Capitals (DC) by a massive margin in the second match of the day to outdo PBKS in terms of net-run-rate and level with them with 15 points to earn the fourth playoff spot. (ANI)