Punjab Kings decimated the Mumbai Indian attack putting an end to the journey of five-time champion Mumbai Indians in Qualifier-2 match of 18th edition of IPL. Captain Shreyas Iyer’s adrenaline packed 87 not out of just 41 balls including 8 hits over the fence and four boundaries made the Punjab army reach the finals of IPL 2025 on June 1 on Sunday. They would meet Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on June 3 (Tuesday).
The red army defeated the blue bulls by five wickets racing to the final of IPL 2025. Mumbai batted first and scored 203 runs for six wickets in 20 overs, in response of which, Punjab Kings won by scoring 207 runs for five wickets in 19 overs with the help of Shreyas’s strong innings of 87 in 41 balls.
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Chasing a stiff 204-run target, Josh Inglis gave the innings early momentum with a quickfire 38 off 21 balls, including a 20-run over off Jasprit Bumrah. The chase gained further steam as Iyer and Nehal Wadhera (48 off 29) put together a crucial 84-run stand in just 7.5 overs.
Iyer gave a steamy end to the Qualifier-2 match with an over to spare demeaning the efforts of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma helping Mumbai Indians post 203 against Punjab.
Punjab Kings after entering the final for the first time since 2014 will face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on June 3 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. RCB had entered the final by defeating Punjab in the Qualifier-1 match May 29, 2025. The team defeated Gujarat in the eliminator, but the team led by Hardik Pandya could not cross the hurdle of Qualifier-2. Punjab and RCB have never won the IPL trophy so far, so it is certain that now the tournament will get a new champion.
Shreyas Iyer led the team to victory
Chasing the target, Punjab started with a jolt. Prabhsimran Singh was caught by Trent Bolt at the hands of Reece Topley. He could score only six runs. At the same time, Ashwini Kumar made Priyansh Arya his victim. He could score only 20 runs. After this, Josh Inglis took over the charge. He was supported by Shreyas Iyer who remained unbeaten after scoring 87 runs. Inglis scored 38 runs. Nehal Wadhera’s 48 helped the team reach the finals.
For Mumbai, Ashwini Kumar took two wickets while Trent Bolt and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each.
Suryakumar and Tilak
For Mumbai, Jonny Bairstow (38), Tilak Verma (44) and Suryakumar (44) laid the foundation for a big score. Naman Dheer also scored 33 runs in 18 balls to take the team past 200 runs. Rohit Sharma (8) could not take advantage of the life he got in the last match. In the third over, Azmatullah Umarzai dropped his difficult catch off Kyle Jamieson. However, in the next over, Rohit got caught by Visakh Vijaykumar at deep square leg of Marcus Stoinis while trying to play his favorite pull shot.
Undeterred by the initial setback, Mumbai continued to score at the rate of ten runs per over. Tilak hit a six off the second ball while Bairstow also continued aggressively at the other end. Both shared a 51-run partnership for the second wicket.
Mumbai scored 65 runs for one wicket in six overs in the powerplay. Bairstow scored 15 runs off Umarzai in the sixth over with excellent strokes. But he was caught by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis off Vijay Kumar’s ball in the next over.
On arrival of Suryakumar, Punjab brought in spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, but Chahal was able to take a wicket only in his last over.
Suryakumar scored 44 of 26 balls which included four fours and three sixes later getting caught by Nehal Vadhera at deep midwicket in an attempt to play on the front foot on the fifth ball of Chahal’s last over. He added 72 runs for the third wicket with Tilak.
Two balls later, Tilak also returned to the pavilion, chipping in 44 runs of 29 balls with two sixes and two fours. Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya scored just 15 runs of 12 balls.
