Chennai, April 4 (IANS) Punjab Kings Captain Shreyas Iyer has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during seventh match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

“As this was his team’s second offence of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which pertains to minimum over-rate offences, Iyer was fined INR 24 lakhs. The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, will be fined either INR six lakhs or 25 per cent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser,” IPL said in a statement.

On Friday, PBKS once again proved why they are the masters of 200-plus chases in the IPL, pulling off the feat for the ninth time as Priyansh Arya and Shreyas Iyer dismantled the Chennai Super Kings attack. Arya set the tone with a blistering start, racing to 33 off just 9 balls as PBKS brought up their fifty in no time, while Iyer anchored the chase with a calm yet commanding knock, accelerating from 4 off 5 to a 26-ball fifty.

In contrast, CSK remain winless after two games, and the bigger concern will be being outplayed in conditions that should have favoured them. Despite posting a strong 209 for 5 on a surface suited to their batting strength, their bowling once again failed to hold up, exposing a key weakness early in the season.

Priyansh Arya ignited the chase with an impressive start, setting the tone for Punjab Kings’ pursuit of 210 against Chennai Super Kings. Brought in as a substitute, Arya made his intentions clear. He attacked Khaleel Ahmed right from the beginning. A sharp, straight drive for four, followed by a powerful six over midwicket, marked his entrance. While Khaleel managed some movement against Prabhsimran Singh, he still gave away 14 runs in the first over.

There was no break in the second over as Arya attacked Matt Henry, hitting 4, 6, and 4 to reach 25 off just six balls. By the time PBKS scored their fifty in an incredible 3.2 overs, Arya had already piled up 27 off eight balls, easily finding the boundary. This was a bold, modern T20 strategy. Seeing a target of over 200, he went all out in the power play to take control of the chase. His 39 off 11 at a strike rate of 355 may not have been a match-winning innings by itself, but it clearly represented the role of an aggressive opener today: deal maximum damage early and establish a platform.

–IANS

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