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KATHMANDU, June 2: Captain Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten half-century powered Punjab Kings to defeat Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the Qualifier-2 match, securing their place in the IPL 2025 final.
Mumbai Indians scored 203 runs for six wickets in their 20 overs after batting first. Punjab Kings chased the target successfully, scoring 207 runs for five wickets in 19 overs, led by Shreyas's impeccable half-century innings. Rain delayed the start of the match by 2 hours and 15 minutes. Although the toss took place, rain just before the game caused the delay, but officials did not reduce the number of overs.
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This marks Punjab Kings' first final appearance since 2014. They will now face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. RCB earned their final spot by defeating Punjab in Qualifier-1. Five-time champions Mumbai ended their journey in Qualifier-2. They had beaten Gujarat in the Eliminator but failed to overcome Qualifier-2 under Hardik Pandya's leadership. Since neither Punjab nor RCB has ever won the IPL trophy, this tournament will crown a new champion.
Punjab Kings started shakily in the chase, losing three wickets for just 72 runs. Then Shreyas and Nehal Wadhera built an 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Shreyas reached his half-century off just 27 balls during this stand. Ashwin Kumar broke the partnership by dismissing Wadhera after he scored 48 runs. However, Shreyas remained on the crease and hit a six off the last ball of the 19th over to seal the victory. He finished unbeaten on 87 runs off 41 balls, hitting five fours and eight sixes.
Priyansh Arya scored 20 runs, Josh Inglis 38, and Prabhsimran Singh 6 runs for Punjab Kings. Shashank Singh made 2 runs before getting out, while Stoinis remained unbeaten on 2 runs. Ashwin Kumar took two wickets for Mumbai, while Trent Boult and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each.
