Iyer hits first IPL ton to keep Kings' hopes alive
[Reuters] Captain Shreyas Iyer brought up his first Indian Premier League century with a match-winning six as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets to keep their play-off hopes alive. Iyer set up the win with a 140-run third-wicket partnership with Prabhsimran Singh (69) and then brought up his 51-ball ton in style as Kings chased a target of 197 with two overs to spare. Victory in the final match of their regular season ends a run of six consecutive defeats for Kings, who won six of their opening seven fixtures, with the other game a no result.
They move above Rajasthan Royals into the fourth and final play-off place, but could be overtaken by either Royals or Kolkata Knight Riders, who both play on the final day of the regular season on Sunday. Lucknow lost Arshin Kulkarni for a golden duck and Nicholas Pooran for two inside the first three overs, but Josh Inglis made 72 from the top of the order as the bottom side reached 196-6 after being put into bat. Ayush Badoni (43 off 18 balls), Rishabh Pant (26) and Abdul Samad (37 not out) all chipped in runs for the home side, who finish their 14-game campaign with four wins and 10 defeats.
Kings lost Priyansh Arya, caught by Arjun Tendulkar off Mohammed Shami, from the first ball of their reply, and the India seamer bowled Cooper Connolly (18) two overs later. Iyer and Prabhsimran settled any nerves as they dominated the Lucknow attack, with their partnership eventually ended when Tendulkar trapped the latter lbw at the end of the 15th over. Five short of his century and needing three for victory, Iyer finished the match in memorable fashion, hitting his fifth six of the match high over long-on.
Scorecard ; Table [BBC]