Mullanpur, Apr 20:
Priyansh Arya, one of the country’s most talked about T20 batting talent alongside Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, smashed his way to a magnificent 93 as Punjab Kings clinically demolished Lucknow Super Kings by 54 runs in an IPL match here on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Delhi man, whose knock came off just 37 balls, joined hands with Cooper Connolly, the most talked about next-gen batting star in Australia, who also oozed class in his 45-ball-87 as Punjab Kings posted an insurmountable 254 for 7 in 20 overs.
The duo added an astounding 182 runs off just 80 balls with 16 sixes (9 from Priyansh and 7 from Connolly) and 12 fours shared between them.
In reply, Lucknow Super Giants despite a reasonably good Powerplay that fetched 61 runs were never in contention as they finished on 200 for five in 20 overs.
The likes of skipper Rishabh Pant (43 off 23 balls) and Mitchell Marsh (40 off 28 balls) tried but their intent and execution paled in comparison to the six-hitting exhibition of Priyansh and Connolly.
Vyshak Vijaykumar (1/30 in 4 overs) was brilliant with his pace-on and pace-off variations that stopped both Marsh and Pant in their tracks. Once both were gone, wrapping up the match was a mere formality for Shreyas Iyer’s men, itching to go one better than their previous runners-up finish in 2025.
When Punjab Kings batted, the Powerplay score of 63 for one was good, they were even better in the middle phase between overs 7th and 11th in which 66 runs came.
Priyansh, the beefy southpaw, just stood and delivered with minimal footwork and maximum bat speed as balls flew thick and fast.
The full balls were muscled down the ground or over extra cover.
The short and wide deliveries were slashed or ramped while bouncers on the shoulders were either pulled or hooked without an iota of expression on his face.
It seemed like a regular job for the man, who also learnt ropes from Gautam Gambhir’s childhood coach Sanjay Bhardwaj.Connolly was in a different mould as his lofted sixes over extra cover and front-foot pull-shots into the deep mid-wicket stands would have even made his franchise coach Ricky Ponting proud.
Their batting styles were contrasting — Priyansh scoring his half-century off just 19 balls and scoring the next 43 off 18 balls.
Connolly, on the other hand took some time as his 50 came off 35 deliveries but the next 37 came off 12.
Priyansh, who had a stellar debut IPL season, has been time and again proving that 2025 wasn’t a mere flash in the pan.The Delhi youngster was unfazed even as his opening partner Prabhsimran Singh was out first ball nicking an outswinger from Mohammed Shami.