Internal competition fueling Punjab Kings' good start in IPL says captain Shreyas Iyer

[p]The team stormed ‌to the top of the IPL standings by ‌chasing down 210 with eight balls to spare against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chennai-super-kings/hQRNSDp4/"]Chennai Super ‌Kings[/a], completing another statement victory to open their campaign ‌with back-to-back wins.[/p][p]Their top order came out swinging and never really relented, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/iyer-shreyas/INzfXBtM/"]Iyer[/a] leading by example with a commanding 50 off ‌29 balls as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/punjab-kings/juzL6jnm/"]Punjab[/a] completed the ⁠chase at Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram ‌Stadium.[/p][p][b]"We've just decided in the dressing room that whatever happens, we ​are going to play a brand of cricket which is to impress each other, not others ​outside," Iyer said after the match.[/b][/p][p][b]"That gives us a certain sort of clarity as well, when we approach the ⁠game. It is basically ​challenging each other inside the dressing room, not outside."[/b][/p][embed guid="f2aa4054-c8cc-4e16-808e-57a5d9cea991" url="https://x.com/IPL/status/2040270635092635675" social-type="twitter" /][p]The chase was Punjab's ninth successful pursuit of a 200-plus target, the highest among the IPL's 10 franchises.[/p][p]Opener [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arya-priyansh/QLEcAOLH/"]Priyansh Arya[/a] provided ‌the early spark with a blistering 39 off 11 balls, and Punjab's top-order batsmen sustained the charge to leave Chennai chasing the game for most of the night.[/p][p][b]"I'm glad that everyone's getting to bat in the first two games itself," Iyer said.[/b][/p][p][b]"That gives immense confidence for the team as well. Whenever we're stuck in a pressure situation, people are aware of how to handle them."[/b][/p][p]There was, ‌however, one blemish, with Iyer and his teammates fined for ​a slow over-rate for the second match running, an ‌issue the captain acknowledged needs to be fixed quickly.[/p][p][b]"The over-rate is something we should look into right now, because five fielders coming in in the last two overs, you sort of know that there's one ⁠line to bowl.[/b][/p][p][b]"That's the ⁠only part we need ‌to focus on."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/chennai-super-kings-hQRNSDp4/punjab-kings-juzL6jnm/?mid=OIdgeCft"]Check out the game summary with Flashscore.[/a][/p]