When Cooper Connolly walked back after making 87 off 46 balls against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in New Chandigarh, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) players gave him a standing ovation. Connolly had scored at a strike rate of 189.13, hitting eight fours and seven sixes in his innings. On most days, that is the defining innings of a match.
On this Sunday night, it wasn't.
From the other end, Priyansh Arya had produced something even more extraordinary - a jaw-dropping 93 off 37 balls, at a strike rate of 251.35. While Connolly was superb, it was Arya who had single-handedly steered the side in the powerplay and set the tone for an imposing total.
Ayra and Prabhsimran Singh have formed a destructive opening pair for PBKS, playing a key role in making light work of 200-plus chases. But LSG, the most economical bowling side in the powerplay this season, seemed to have won the early battle. They dismissed Prabhsimran for a first-ball duck and restricted PBKS to 43 for 1 after five overs.
Connolly was struggling on 19 off 21 balls at that point. Arya was starved of strike, but despite facing only eight deliveries, he had raced to 21. And with one over left in the powerplay, he took over.
Earlier this season, he had already shown his ability to inject momentum in a matter of a few balls. Against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he broke the back of a 210-run chase by smashing 39 off 11 balls. Ricky Ponting, the PBKS head coach, called it "as good a ball-striking as I think I have ever seen". In the following game, chasing 220 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he took 18 off the opening over, bowled by left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey.
Ambati Rayudu and Gaurav Sundararaman on the PBKS batters' blitz against LSG
Here, Mohsin Khan started the sixth over with a single and a leg-bye. But over the next four deliveries, Arya targeted the shorter square boundary on the leg side, hitting two sixes and a four to make it a 20-run over. PBKS finished the powerplay on equal footing with LSG.
Arya reached his fifty in just 19 balls. But it wasn't all brute force. When M Siddharth bowled one short on leg stump, Arya was aware the short-fine-leg fielder was wide. He went into a crouched position early, waited for the ball to arrive and lapped it fine for four.
Another shot that stood out was off Avesh Khan. On the second ball of the 12th over, Avesh missed his mark slightly while attempting a wide yorker. Arya took a small step towards the bowler, met the ball on the full, and opened the face of the bat to slice it over backward point. Such was the timing that it cleared the boundary, even though this was the longer side. The placement was equally impeccable, bisecting the fielders at deep point and deep-wide third.
In all, Arya hit nine sixes, and only four fours. When asked if his practice sessions involve a lot of power hitting, he said, "I don't practice six-hitting that much. I focus on timing the ball as well as I can, and that helps me." That six off Avesh was proof of it.
He and Connolly added 182 off just 80 balls for the second wicket. Thanks to them, PBKS, who were batting first for the first time this season, posted the season's highest total, 254 for 7.
Last year at this very ground, Arya had announced himself to the IPL with a stunning 103 off 42 balls against CSK. He finished the season with 475 runs at an average of 27.94 and a strike rate of 179.24. But whenever an uncapped player does well in his first season, there are murmurs about the second-season syndrome. But Arya seems to be doing even better this time. In five innings so far, he has scored 211 runs at an average of 42.20. His strike rate? A staggering 248.23, the highest in the league (minimum 20 balls faced).
That fearless approach has a downside too. Half of Arya's 22 IPL innings have lasted 11 balls or fewer. Sunday's knock was only the fourth time he had batted beyond 25 deliveries. "Staying at the crease for a few overs even after the powerplay was the special thing about today's knock," he said afterwards.
Creating that fearlessness in batters' minds requires the unwavering support of the team management, and PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer is playing his part perfectly.
"I was just talking to Cooper and Priyansh," Iyer said after the match. "We said, let's compete this IPL for who hits the most sixes, and they are up for it. The prize is going to be my bat - it doesn't make sense, but at the end of the day, as long as they keep performing, and I keep performing, I am happy."
Currently, Arya is leading the race with 20, while Connolly and Iyer are tied at 14 each. Much like this light-hearted competition, PBKS - unbeaten after six games - also seem to be competing with themselves, not the competition.