Live Report - Arya, Inglis hit fifties to put Punjab Kings on course

Priyansh Arya and Josh Inglis were at the heart of a statement win for Punjab Kings, a seven-wicket demolition of Mumbai Indians that sealed a top-two finish and a shot at a direct entry into the IPL 2025 final.

Chasing a potentially tricky 185 target, the pair added 109 for the second wicket en route stunning half-centuries each to turn what could have been a tense contest into a canter. It meant Suryakumar Yadav’s 59 - a record 14th score of 25 or more in T20s - wasn’t anywhere near enough.

MI will now play in the Eliminator, with the final playoffs line-up to be decided after Tuesday night’s fixture. A Royal Challengers Bengaluru win over Lucknow Super Giants will set up their clash with PBKS in Qualifier-1. A defeat will see them meet MI in the Eliminator on May 30.

But PBKS are nearly home. Shreyas Iyer has come in and got going quickly to bring the equation down to 27 off 24. MI's win probably is 5.01% currently.

And it comes off a sensational short-arm jab for six off Hardik. A ball earlier, he'd nonchalantly slapped him over cover as Hardik erred in line. The equation is down to 65 off 48. A while earlier, Inglis got to his fifty off 29 balls. MI looking flat.

Their sensational onslaught has given them the rate luxury of seeing off Bumrah in his third. But PBKS take 11 off his third. Inglis drove him on the up over extra cover, and Arya finished the over by hooking him deep into the stands over fine leg.

PBKS can walk home here. 131/1 in 13 overs.

Inglis stays really low and watches the ball closely as it tails away before the late flick of the switch to hit over short third. It's also quite astonishing that Inglis has been able to execute this even off a slower delivery.

Hardik Pandya had all three stumps to aim at from mid-off. Priyansh Arya had given up as he turned back halfway down the pitch. Hardik misses. PBKS 89/1 in 10 with Inglis playing a gem. His innings has bee full of pulls and scoops. And in the 10th off Bumrah, he brought out the most gorgeous cover drive one would play. MI are under the pump.

Hardik has held Bumrah back after that first over, seemingly mindful of his presence in the second half of the innings. And in the two overs since, PBKS have taken 26, with Josh Inglis up and away with two sixes. It's also helped that Arya has been in sparkling form.

He dropped a skier to reprieve Prabhsimran in the fourth over, but redeems himself almost immediately as Jasprit Bumrah strikes second ball.

Prabhsimran gives him the charge but Bumrah has him deceived by a slower one as he gets a thick edge to third man, where Ashwani runs in from the ropes and dives forward to complete an excellent catch.

It’s all happening!

After a maiden over in his first, Chahar takes the ball despite the strapping. Will Jacks comes upto the stumps to prevent the batters from stepping out, so Prabhsimran offsets that by scooping him first ball for six. As a direct consequence, Chahar shortens his length and bowls outside off, to see Prabhsimran slap him over cover.

Chahar then bowls a superb knuckleball that deceives Prabhsimran who skies one into the night sky, only for Ashwani Kumar, pressed in as the Impact sub for Rohit barely a few deliveries ago, puts one down. And to add insult to injury, Arya rends the over with a superb back foot punch through extra cover.

PBKS on their way. 34/0 in 4 overs.

One ball into his opening over, Deepak Chahar calls for the physio and has some heavy strapping done on his right hamstring. The first ball he delivers after all the taping is a gentle length delivery. He also appeared to pull up gingerly in his follow through. The pace is down, there's not much swing either. Wonder how that'll affect the dynamics of MI's bowling innings. All told, he delivers an excellent over. A maiden.

PBKS 10/0 in 2 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav converted his record 14th straight score of 25 or more in T20s to a 39-ball 57 as Mumbai Indians set Punjab Kings 185 for a place in the top two. Suryakumar felt the surface at Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur was “challenging” and they may have been “10-15 short.”

Suryakumar came in at No. 3 in the sixth over and batted right through until the final over. Along the way, he helped ride through a wobbly middle phase, before accelerating superbly towards the end with Naman Dhir.

The penultimate over, Vijaykumar Vyshak’s fourth, went for 23 to raise hopes of a grandstand finish. Arshdeep Singh then nailed his yorkers superbly in a gun final over that went for just three runs as PBKS closed out the innings superbly.

Suryakumar and Dhir aside, there was a key lower middle-order contribution from Hardik Pandya (26 off 15). This injected momentum before the final lift-off as they finished with a total they will be confident of defending, even if a tad under-par in Suryakumar’s words.

Playing his final game of the season before he leaves for national duties, South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton did the early running until Rohit Sharma caught up. Rohit, who had been dismissed by left-arm seamers four times this season struggled a touch early on against Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, but seemed to get into his groove as he took the attack to Harpreet Brar in the powerplay.

He first stepped out imperiously to hit him over long-on and then lofting him inside-out over cover. It needed Nehal Wadhera’s brilliance at long-on helped pull off a stunner to send him back for 24.

Rohit’s dismissal followed a choppy middle phase where they lost two wickets in quick succession, before Hardik, who’d batted just 39 balls in the last six games, injected momentum along with Suryakumar, who brought up his half-century off just 34 balls. While MI made 53 off the last five, there was a sense that they may have missed out on a few extra runs.

Vyshak, playing only his third game of the season, was on track to be the pick of the bowlers until he leaked two fours and two sixes in his final finish with 2 for 44. Arshdeep and Jansen too picked up two wickets apiece.

SKY hits fifty off 34 as the floodgates open in an eerily similar pattern to their death-overs hitting, like we saw against DC. Vyshak's final over, the penultimate of the innings, goes for 23. MI 181/5 in 19 overs.

And it's Jansen who takes him out a ball after being walloped in front of square for six. MI 150/5 in 16.2 overs. Hardik was beginning to look increasingly dangerous, bringing out the strong bottom-hand and whipping deliveries at will. A 44-run stand with Surya is broken.

Out comes Naman Dhir, who has been massively impressive as a finisher. In the previous game, MI were 132 after 18 overs against DC. Dhir and SKY walloped 48 off the last two. Can they give MI a similar finish here? They're on course to get way more than the 180 they finished with the other night.

Tonight, he comes in to bat with MI needing a significant momentum shift to try and get past 180.

Rohit is taken out by a sensational Nehal Wadhera stunner at long-on. Tilak's poor run continues as he slashes Vyshak straight down third man's throat. Over to SKY and Jacks.

He's treading the middle overs with the kind of aggression you've known him to bring. He hasn't let the spinners settle, bringing out the trademark sweep by getting well outside the line. And against pace, that pick-up he superbly plays over backward square has already been brought out. He's looking dangerously good, the signs are ominous for PBKS.

The first over after the powerplay brings just 3.

All the elements that have made Vyshak the T20 bowler that he is on display. It's also the first over without a boundary. Deep Dasgupta reckons an extra layer of grass on the surface is helping the bowlers a little extra.

The first ball he bowls hits hard length and hits Rohit's bat shoulder. Then there's a full, wide yorker-length delivery that Surya misses as he tries to scythe behind point. He ends it with a slower delivery on a length that is bunted to short third.

And he's taken out by his South African teammate Marco Jansen.

It's the length that does the trick. Hard length into the pitch, and lift off the pitch means Rickelton gets it high on the bat as he looks to go down the ground, can't hit it further than Shreyas Iyer at mid-on.

Suryakumar comes in at No. 3 as MI bring up their 50 in 5.2 overs.

The arrangement between CSA and BCCI was for the South Africa players picked for the WTC final to leave tomorrow morning. And that means Rickelton has played his last game.

Both boundaries vintage Rohit. The six is hacked wide of long-on as he steps out. The four is a little more stylish as he stays besides the line and lofts him inside-out to the extra cover fence. MI 45/0 in 5 overs

He's been dismissed by a left-arm seamer four times this season. And PBKS have been operating with two of them in tandem.

And the first full over he faces is quite a challenging one against Jansen. He's first hit high on the bat as he tries to work one to the leg side. There's a big heave that hits him on the body. Then there's a slash that he misses in trying to pick the gap behind point. Finally, he nails one straight down the ground to end the over.

All the results over the past few days that needed to go their way has.

Starting with PBKS losing to DC and RCB losing to SRH. Then last afternoon, GT were beaten soundly by CSK. This effectively means the winner of tonight's game will be in the top-two.

The team they'll face in Q1 will be decided tomorrow. RCB will join the winner of tonight's game if they beat LSG. If RCB lose, GT will finish in the top two.

Ryan Rickelton is doing the early running, like he often has this season. He's hit each of MI's three boundaries in the first two overs as Shreyas Iyer has started with Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson. MI 17/0 in 2 overs.