Dharamsala, May 11 (IANS) Punjab Kings got off to a quick start with Priyansh Arya, followed by a steady effort from Shreyas Iyer and a late burst from Suryansh Shedge, which helped them reach 210/5 in 20 overs against Delhi Capitals in Match 55 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, on Monday.
Arya set the pace from the very first ball, hitting Mitchell Starc over cover-point for six. This marked just the second time Starc had been hit for a first-ball six in a T20 match. The last time it happened was in IPL 2026 against Yashasvi Jaiswal in Jaipur. Starc’s opening over fell apart quickly as he gave up 22 runs, his highest ever in the first over of a T20 innings, exceeding his previous worst of 15 runs against DC in 2024 while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Arya continued to attack without missing a beat. He targeted Azmatullah Nabi and welcomed Lungi Ngidi with back-to-back sixes, one pulled over midwicket and the other launched over extra cover. This brought his total to five sixes in his first 13 balls. PBKS raced to 50 runs in just four overs when Arya sliced Ngidi over backward point for four off a slower ball. Even when DC regained some control with the replacement ball moving, Arya reached a 24-ball fifty in the sixth over, which felt rather calm after his explosive start of 39 off 15 balls. PBKS ended the powerplay at 72/0.
DC finally made a breakthrough when Prabhsimran Singh, who struggled to find his rhythm despite a few fortunate boundaries, misplayed a delivery from Mukesh Kumar to deep backward square leg, where Nabi took a tumbling catch. Prabhsimran scored 18 off 15 balls. Shreyas Iyer came in at No. 3, ahead of Cooper Connolly, likely to break up PBKS’ left-handers, and immediately faced challenging seam movement from Mukesh.
Arya’s impressive innings finally ended at 56 off 33 when IPL debutant Madhav Tiwari struck. After being fooled by a sharp bouncer, Arya responded with a boundary over extra cover. However, he misplayed another short delivery soon after, leading to Sahil Parakh catching the ball at deep cover. PBKS were 107/2 after 10 overs.
Iyer ensured the innings maintained its pace. He quickly moved to 27 off 17 balls, including an impressive 73-metre straight six off Ngidi, even after being completely deceived by the slower ball, causing his bat to slip from his hand as the ball sailed over the ropes. Connolly initially struggled but later exploded, hitting Starc for a towering 96-metre six over long-off and then taking on Ngidi with a four and a six in consecutive balls. PBKS reached 162/2 after 16 overs, setting the stage for a score well over 200.
Mukesh briefly slowed the run rate with a solid 17th over that yielded only six singles, but Tiwari’s final over went for 19 runs as Iyer struck two sixes and Connolly added a boundary before getting out to a slower bouncer. Still, Tiwari ended with strong figures of 2/40 on his IPL debut.
The real fireworks came in the 19th over. Starc struck twice in two deliveries, dismissing Marcus Stoinis and Shashank Singh with catches to extra cover and mid-off. However, Suryansh Shedge responded strongly. Facing the hat-trick ball, he hit Starc straight back over his head for six. He then smartly chipped a full delivery over mid-off for four and capped the over by pulling a ball deep into the midwicket stands for a massive 100-metre six. Ngidi capped off with a fine seven-run over to restrict Punjab Kings to 210/5 in 20 overs.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 210/5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 59 not out, Priyansh Arya 56; Madhav Tiwari2-40, Mitchell Starc 2-57) against Delhi Capitals
–IANS
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