Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On Sunday, June 1, Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets with an over to spare in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Qualifier 2, to reach the final of the tournament, where they will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a couple of days time. After MI posted a competitive total of 203/6 on the board on the back of a few decent innings from their batters, it was the Shreyas Iyer show with the bat, scoring unbeaten 87 runs in 40 balls with five fours and eight sixes, to take his team over the finishing line.
For the unversed, after winning the toss, Shreyas Iyer, the PBKS captain, decided to field first, and his decision paid instant dividends as Marcus Stoinis dismissed Rohit Sharma cheaply in the powerplay stage. Jonny Bairstow, who scored 38 runs in just 24 balls, shared a 51-run stand for the second wicket with Tilak Varma, to put MI on their way before Suryakumar Yadav took control of the proceedings against the spin of Yuzvendra Chahal.
While Yuzvendra Chahal had the last laugh in his battle with Suryakumar Yadav, the latter had smashed him for a few boundaries on his way to scoring 44 runs in 26 balls with four fours and three sixes. Tilak Varma also had a 72-run stand for the third wicket with Suryakumar Yadav, but he lost his wicket to Kyle Jamieson after scoring 44 runs in 29 balls, with two fours and two sixes.
With two set batters falling in quick succession, Naman Dhir delivered the goods for MI with the bat, scoring 38 runs in just 17 balls with seven fours, to help them reach 203/6 in their allotted 20 overs. In the pursuit of the big target, PBKS lost the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh cheaply, getting bounced out by Trent Boult before Priyansh Arya and Josh Inglis took the attack of the MI bowlers in the powerplay stage, including the great Jasprit Bumrah.
Arya (20 off 10) and Inglis (38 off 21) were dismissed in quick succession by Ashwani Kumar and Hardik Pandya either side of powerplay, to wrestle control of the innings from the PBKS batting lineup. After that, Shreyas Iyer got into his innings with a bit of a circumspect approach alongside an aggressive Nehal Wadhera before he took down Reece Topley, hitting three sixes in a row, suddenly getting into overdrive.
Nehal Wadhera, who was dropped early in his innings by Trent Boult on 13, kept getting better and better as his innings progressed, scoring 48 runs in just 29 balls with four fours and two sixes. He shared a 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Shreyas Iyer, to put PBKS in a great position, needing a further 48 runs in 26 balls, to secure a spot in the IPL final for the second-time in their history.
Shashank Singh ran himself out on two with a direct hit from Hardik Pandya, giving MI a sniff in the contest, but then, Shreyas Iyer not only kept his cool, but smashed Ashwani Kumar for four sixes in the 19th over, to help PBKS finish off the match in style.
