IPL 2025 Qualifier 2, PBKS vs MI: Shreyas Iyer’s 87, Nehal Wadhera’s 48 power Punjab Kings into the final; Mumbai Indians fail to defend 203.
Brief scores: MI 203/6 (Tilak Varma 44, Suryakumar Yadav 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 2/43) lose to PBKS 207/5 (Shreyas Iyer 87 not out, Ashwani Kumar 2/55) by 5 wickets.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer led from the front with a knock of 87 not out to help his team chase down 204 against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 and enter the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Punjab will now play Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the final on June 3.
Highlights from PBKS vs MI Qualifier 2, IPL 2025
SKY-Tilak’s 72-run stand take Mumbai to strong total
When Suryakumar Yadav joined Tilak Varma in the middle, Mumbai Indians were 70/2, and they needed the duo to consolidate on the good start. Tilak took the charge first, hitting Vijaykumar Vyshak for a four and a six in the ninth over of the innings.
SKY joined the fun, hitting the next over bowled by YS Chahal for a four and a six as well. He greeted Chahal’s second over with another six. SKY didn’t spare Chahal’s third over either, hitting one more four and a six, but the leg-spinner had the last laugh. SKY mistimed a sweep to deep mid-wicket. His stand of 72 runs with Tilak for the third wicket set a platform for a big score. SKY contributed 44 runs in this stand of 72 runs, hitting four boundaries and three sixes.
Read More: IPL 2025, Qualifier 1, PBKS vs RCB: Bengaluru reach fourth final, Punjab need to do soul-searching
Iyer-Wadhera keep Punjab in hunt
After Josh Inglis departed making a 21-ball 38 cameo, Punjab’s fourth-wicket pair of Shreyas Iyer and Nehal Wadhera produced a match-winning stand of 84 runs in 7.5 overs for the fourth wicket.
It was Wadhera who produced the initial fireworks while Iyer looked to rotate the strike to get his eye in. Wadhera smashed a four off Mitchell Santner’s over and a six and a four off Hardik Pandya’s bowling.
With the run-rate creeping close to 12, Iyer got into the act, cracking three straight sixes off Recee Topley’s over (13th). On the other end, Wadhera produced some brilliant shots as well, the best being a punch off a full-length ball from Trent Boult for a four.
The two paced the innings brilliantly, making sure the run-rate was always under control and never went over 12. Wadhera looked good for his fifty before he mistimed a hit off Ashwani Kumar’s bowling. Wadhera made 48 off 29 balls with four boundaries and two sixes, and dominated the stand of 84 runs.
Read More: IPL 2025: Players to watch out for in Qualifier 2 & Final
Pressure's loud. Those maximums were louder 🚀
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) June 1, 2025
🎥 Captain Shreyas Iyer puts #PBKS on the brink of a seat in the GRAND FINAL ❤
Updates ▶ https://t.co/vIzPVlDqoC#TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI | #Qualifier2 | #TheLastMile | @ShreyasIyer15 pic.twitter.com/tTiXcELxoG
Iyer take Punjab into IPL 2025 final
Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer led from the front, with a knock of 87 not out. He made amends for last match’s (Qualifier 1)’s mistake when he was dismissed early playing a loose shot. In the Qualifier 2, he ensured he first got his eye in, and relied on ones and twos before unleashing his big shots. He let Nehal Wadhera dominate the 84-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Iyer ensured he had his moments during this stand. When the run-rate crept over 12, Iyer produced three straight sixes off Topley’s over to switch the momentum in their favour.
The best part of Iyer’s innings was the shot selection. He chose to hit balls on merit, and never played any loose shots during this innings. He played some brilliant shots to yorkers, gliding it down in the slip region for fours. He was also brilliant in choosing the bowlers to target. He ensured he finished the match before the 20th over as he smacked four sixes off Ashwani’s over -19th of the innings – to wrap up the match and help his team enter the final. Iyer ended up with 41-ball 87 not out with 5 fours and 8 sixes.
Read More: MI or PBKS? Which team is more likely to meet RCB in IPL 2025 Final?
Top Twitter/X Reactions from PBKS vs MI, Ahmedabad, IPL 2025
Shreyas Iyer has made his bat do all the talking
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) June 1, 2025
Spectacular knock by Shreyas to take Punjab into the final sending telling message to KKR, who had dumped him, and India selectors who have been ignoring him. Hard luck for MI who came back well in the tournament before tripping tonite. So IPL sees a new champion come Tuesday!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 1, 2025
Captain. Leader. Legend. Take a bow @ShreyasIyer15 🔥 #IPL2025
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) June 1, 2025
What a staggering return from @PunjabKingsIPL led by the best captain of the tournament. This from #ShreyasIyer is one of the finest innings of the tournament.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 1, 2025
Captain’s knock @ShreyasIyer15
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) June 1, 2025
and well played @nehalwadhera … great partnership 👍#PBKSvsMI #IPLPlayoffs
I’ve said this time and again and I’ll say it AGAIN!! Iyer will captain India in multiple formats!! He has to!! He’s that good!! 🫡🫠
— Robbie Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) June 1, 2025
Many congratulations to @PunjabKingsIPL you guys deserve to play finals. Shreyas Iyer what a captain boss 👏
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 1, 2025
Cometh the hour, cometh the man stuff from @ShreyasIyer15, vital knocks from Inglis and Nehal too! Very well played and congratulations @PunjabKingsIPL 👏🏻 We're going to see a first time champion this season! #PBKSvsMI #IPL2025 pic.twitter.com/suJtTobY72
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 1, 2025
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