Priyansh Arya took the CSK bowling attack to the cleaners en route to his maiden IPL ton.
Arya’s stocks were on the rise ever since he smashed 6 sixes in an over during the inaugural Delhi Premier League last year. He was signed by the Mohali-based franchise for Rs 3.80 crore in the mega auction.
The southpaw repaid the faith of the PBKS management on Tuesday (April 8). He smashed the first delivery of the match for a six and didn’t look back.
Arya was severe on both fast bowlers and spinners as he reached his half-century off 19 balls. He continued his carnage and notched up his three-figure mark in just 39 deliveries – the second-fastest by an Indian in IPL history after Yusuf Pathan’s 37 balls.
Thanks to his maiden IPL ton (103 off 42 balls), studded with seven boundaries and nine sixes, PBKS racked up a mammoth 219/6 in 20 overs, which proved to be a little too much for CSK, who were restricted to 201/5 during the chase.
After the game, Punjab head coach Ricky Ponting showered rich praise on Priynash Arya. "I've been around in a lot of cricket games. I haven't seen many better knocks than what I have seen tonight," Ponting said in a video shared by PBKS on their social media handles.
"There are two things that I want to highlight about Priyansh's knock. You got out first ball last game and yet the first ball today sails 100 metre over point for a six. That says a lot about you and the attitude we all want to have. You've displayed that attitude to everybody today. Regardless of what happened last game, if you've made runs, if you haven't, you stuck to your game. You displayed the attitude to put it back on the bowlers from the first ball. You did that. Unbelievable knock," he added.
Later in the innings, Shashank Singh (52* off 36) and Marco Jansen (34* off 19) made vital contributions with the bat for Punjab Kings.
Ponting was all praise for Shashank's game awareness and also acknowledged Jansen’s stunning cameo.
"Shashank coming in, the magnificent partnership as well with you and him. Awesome knock again. The thing I liked about yours is it's smart, it's calculating. You did what the team needed at that time. And I reckon I said a lot when you're standing there to all of you, what does my team need from me right now? And I reckon you assessed that today and you did exactly what your team needed from you in that spot. Awesome knock, Congratulations," Ponting stated.
"Marco, where are you, buddy? Very, very important runs there as well. I mean, 39 off 19 partnership, I don't know what it was. But you talked about it at the time out. He said, I reckon we can get to 220 here. And we got to 219," he further remarked.
"It's actually the highest score ever at this venue. And we've done it when we were at our backs to the wall at 5 for 80. And that's what we've done so far. Everyone's been able to chip in so far. When we've needed it, guys have put their hand up and got the job done. That's what good teams are all about," he concluded.
It was PBKS’ third victory in four matches this season. They will next face SRH at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday (April 12).