IPL 2025: Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 97 helps Punjab Kings beat Gujarat Titans by 11 runs

Punjab Kings began their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season with a resounding win over Gujarat Titans. It was PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer who stole the show, with the bat scoring 97 not out in just 42 deliveries. It was a great start to the season for Punjab, who had ended the IPL 2024 season second from bottom, just above Mumbai Indians. 

Priyansh Arya gave PBKS a great start after losing Prabhsimran Singh for just five runs. The left-handed batter scored 47 on his IPL debut, which came off just 23 balls. Rashid Khan got the wicket of Arya to claim his 150th scalp in the IPL. Shreyas Iyer and Priyansh Arya added 51 runs for the second wicket in just 21 balls. 

R. Sai Kishore then dismissed Azmatullah Omarzai and Glenn Maxwell off successive balls to reduce PBKS to 105 for four. Marcus Stoinis then joined skipper Iyer to add 57 runs for the fourth wicket in just 28 balls. Shashank Singh and Iyer ended the innings on 243, with the pair adding unbeaten 81 runs in just 28 balls. 

Gujrat Titans batters falter in huge chase

Shubman Gill came off the blocks and began to assert his dominance with a 14-ball 33. Sai Sudharsan also kept attacking the bowlers to put the pressure back on the PBKS bowlers as the opening pair added 61 runs inside the first six overs. Sudharsan and Buttler continued to attack the bowlers after Gill was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell. 

Sudharsan was out in the third ball of the 13th over after hitting 74 runs. Jos Buttler and Sherfane Rutherford gave the home fans some semblance of hope with their 54-run stand, which came in 33 balls. Buttler was out for 54 after being castled by Marco Jansen in the final ball of the 18th over. Punjab Kings’ bowlers held their cool to take the win by 11 runs. 

Losing skipper Shubman Gill, while speaking to the host broadcasters at the end of the game, said, “We got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs we conceded in the back end of the innings... Those three overs in the middle, we scored around 18 runs. That, and our first three overs, we didn't score many runs. That cost us the game. Apart from that, many positives for us today. Not easy for someone to come and deliver those yorkers for someone who is on the bench. It's always a good wicket to bat on here."