Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Early on Monday, June 2, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) outplayed five-time champions, Mumbai Indians (MI) to advance onto the next stage of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Coming into the game on the back of a defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Qualifier 1, PBKS struck their chords right and defeated MI by five wicket to confirm their second appearance in the final in IPL history.
For the unveresed, PBKS skipper, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first. While his decision caught several eyeballs, but it proved pivotal seeing the overcast conditions hovering the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahemdabad. Putting MI to bat first, on the back of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav’s 44 runs knock respectively, they posted a competitive total on the board.
Shreyas Iyer spoils MI’s hopes of a sixth IPL title with his 41-ball 87*
In the run-chase, PBKS lost their two openers early. Shreyas Iyer joined Josh Inglis in the middle and played a striking knock of unbeaten 87 to help his side cross the finish line. Howver, Inglis departed after a 21-ball 38, Nehal Wadhera joined Iyer as they chased the total with ease and an over to spare.
During his innings of 87*, he also completed 6500 runs in T20 cricket. While this feat came in his 239th match, he now has three tons and 42 half-centuries to his name in T20, out of which over 3,600 runs have come in the IPL. Along with this, Iyer also etched his name in history books as he is now the only captain in IPL history to take three teams to IPL finals.
This comes after earlier he took Delhi Capitals (DC) to their maiden final in 2020, however the result did not go his way. He then joined Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022 and guided them to the title win in 2024 and now will be leading PBKS when they take on RCB in the final on Tuesday, June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
