Shreyas Iyer was classically belligerent, but exuded Zen-like calmness at the crease on Sunday. He turned every Mumbai Indians ploy to his advantage, ensuring a title date for Punjab Kings (PBKS) with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Tuesday here.

Iyer’s 87 off 41 balls, including eight sixes, made MI’s total of 203 look inadequate in a rain-soaked Qualifier 2. He was on 19 off 15 balls when he changed gears with a hat-trick of sixes off seamer Reece Topley (13th over). He then finished the game with four sixes in six balls off pacer Ashwani Kumar. However, the shot of the tournament from Iyer’s blade came in the 18th over, when he jammed his bat and angled it slightly to guide a perfectly executed Jasprit Bumrah yorker past short third man for a boundary. That shot was calmness and precision personified. “It was a very classy knock,” PBKS bowling coach James Hopes said at the post-match press conference in the wee hours of Monday after the match was pushed forward by an hour due to rain. 

James Hopes