Chandigarh, April 13 -- When Punjab Kings' high-octane clash got going against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, the game seemed rapidly headed only in one direction. Sunrisers openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head were in full flow, tearing into the PBKS attack with a ferocity that left the home crowd in Mullanpur stunned. At 105/0 in the Powerplay, a 250-plus total loomed large. It was in this chaos that Shreyas Iyer, calm as ever, found clarity. Captains are often defined not by the obvious decisions, but by the unexpected ones. Iyer's call to introduce Shashank Singh into the attack was precisely that - unexpected, even audacious. The part-time medium pacer had bowled 71 overs across 100 T20s prior to this game, but was hardly the choice to break a rampaging opening stand. However, Iyer wasn't chasing convention. He was simply reading the moment. "I needed to give myself time. Once I gauged the pace of the pitch. Shashank approached me when Abhishek and Travis were slogging, asked me to give him an over," Iyer said later. "Ricky (coach Ponting) came and asked me, 'What's your thought?' I said I'll go with Shashank - I needed someone to take the pace off." And what followed applied the brakes on SRH. Shashank's first over, seventh of the innings, went for just six runs. Yuzvendra Chahal came on and kept the eighth over also tight (9 runs). Then in the ninth over, Shashank struck twice, removing Head and Abhishek, puncturing SRH's momentum and breathing life back into Punjab. From the prospect of conceding a mammoth total, PBKS clawed their way back to restrict SRH to 219/6 - formidable, but not insurmountable. Ponting acknowledged the significance of that moment. "A really brave decision from the skipper to bring Shashank into the attack, take the pace off, and try and take some air out of it," he said. It wasn't just about Iyer the tactician, the finisher too shone under the lights. PBKS openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya set the tone with a breathtaking display of shots, racing to fifties and dismantling the SRH bowling attack in the Powerplay. "The openers have been flowing throughout," Iyer said. "Once they set the platform, it was easy for us to rotate strike and go according to the run rate." Despite the blazing 99-run start, the chase was far from over. At 128/3 in 8.5 overs, with 92 still needed off 55 balls, the game was in balance. Iyer, who had returned from an abdominal injury, looked determined. His 69* off 33 balls wasn't just a display of power, but of poise. He picked his moments, found the gaps, and when required, cleared the ropes-five fours and sixes each punctuating the knock which steadily suffocated SRH's hopes. With Shashank's support at the other end, Iyer guided PBKS home extended the unbeaten start. As PBKS prepare to face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, they have momentum and a captain in sync with his role....