In the fourth over of second innings, Iyer miscued a cutter from pacer Eshan Malings and was caught by skipper Pat Cummins, as he made five off as many balls. With him, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya falling cheaply, PBKS could make only 202\/7, despite Cooper Connolly hitting 107 off 59 balls, and suffer their third straight defeat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThey had already lost two wickets. There\u2019s a stat that if you lose two or more wickets in the Powerplay while chasing, you are on the back foot in about 70 per cent of matches. And this was the third wicket. It was a slightly slow surface.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI know Cooper Connolly played really well, but on such pitches, you expect your experienced Indian batters to take you through when the ball isn\u2019t coming onto the bat easily. In that scenario, if Shreyas gets out early, especially in a big run chase, it becomes very difficult.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEven against Delhi, despite those big starts from the openers, Punjab might have lost that game if not for those two dropped catches of Shreyas. Without him, it wasn\u2019t happening. Once he was out, the game was almost gone,\u201d said Chopra on JioHotstar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former India left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan hailed Cummins\u2019 leadership and execution in dismissing opener Priyansh Arya in the opening over. \u201cThe last time these two teams met, Priyansh got a half\u2011century inside the Powerplay. The game was effectively over as they scored nearly 100 runs, which is why those 220 runs were chased down so easily.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEven against Delhi, despite those big starts from the openers, Punjab might have lost that game if not for those two dropped catches of Shreyas. Without him, it wasn\u2019t happening. Once he was out, the game was almost gone,\u201d said Chopra on JioHotstar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHe was beaten first ball, and Cummins picked up on that. Knowing Priyansh doesn\u2019t play the upper cut, he brought the third man inside the circle and placed a fielder at deep mid\u2011wicket, and the bluff worked perfectly. Priyansh tried to play a short ball outside off stump towards the leg side, and Cummins executed the line and length to perfection,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n