Shreyas masterclass puts PBKS in IPL 2025 final

The Jasprit Bumrah yorker isn't invincible. Not even when it starts to tail. Shreyas Iyer met it with extraordinary coolness and an open face of the bat to find a boundary. It gave him the 61st run of an enormously impressive innings and reinforced a feeling of helplessness on Mumbai Indians. They were staring into the eyes of the man who was single-handedly beating them. The five-time champions came up short, which means IPL 2025 will mark the arrival of a new power. Punjab Kings or Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

There is something extra special about batters who do their best work in a chase. Even now, when the accepted wisdom is to know what your target is, the prospect of a batter playing like he owns every little blade of grass that surrounds him is the stuff of dreams. Shreyas had his eyes wide open. This was real. This was class.

He arrived at the crease in the last over of the powerplay and knew he couldn't take his time. The second ball went for four. He never looked flustered, even when PBKS needed two runs a ball for the last eight overs. He launched Reece Topley for a hat-trick of sixes in the 13th over. Those three hits doubled PBKS' chances of victory. It was 25% coming into the over and 53% coming out of it.

Standing deep in his crease, watching every ball right onto his bat, functioning sometimes on pure instinct. There was a four he got off Hardik Pandya where he seemed almost ready to leave the short ball only to ramp it as it passed him and get it over the keeper. There was a six that he got off Ashwani Kumar, he almost seemed to predict the bowler would go wide yorker to mitigate the damage of a free-hit ball and he shifted across his crease and scythed the ball over cover.

His best shots though were those steers all along the ground to the backward point boundary off the two best bowlers in the opposition - Trent Boult and Bumrah. That was when everybody at the ground knew the game was firmly in Shreyas' hand. That it had always been there. He was expressionless in victory. He knew it was his. He knew it was coming.

Captain's innings, and this shot must drain the will of the MI fielders. It didn't contain any power. It was simple precision. A yorker from Boult being steered between short third and point. That kind of shot is possible only with an immense amount of clear-headedness and game awareness. Shreyas is playing the Kohli knock in a chase right here. It was his hat-trick of sixes that signalled PBKS' rise. If he's there at the end, they might well be fighting for the title.

Meanwhile, Shashank Singh is run-out. Lazy running. He didn't expect Hardik to throw to his end. Mumbai will not make this easy.

Ashwani Kumar does well. He knows he is up against two batters who are in good ball-striking form. So he goes round-arm a little bit. He drags his line wide. He makes Wadhera reach away from his body and contact is made only off the bottom of the bat. Veteran thinking from a man playing his first IPL season. Shreyas is still there. Shashank and Stoinis are pretty good bets at this stage of the innings. MI have 12 balls of Bumrah left though.

MI call on one of their big guns. But Boult isn't able to put in the squeeze that they want.

Wadhera enjoys a little luck - the first boundary was off a leading edge - and then shows that he is worth that luck with the second boundary which is a powerful bottom-handed shovel over mid-off. He's been a really good player down the order. Hasn't looked flustered at all even though the role he plays almost always has him coming in with a lot to do.

Out in the dugout, Malinga, Rohit and Jayawardene are all huddled together, looking tense.

PBKS need two runs a ball for the last eight overs. Ashwani Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah took them there, their 11th and 12th overs going for 4 and 7 runs.

Shreyas recognises the urgency and targets Topley in the 13th over

PBKS' win probability was 25% before Shreyas' big hits. Now, just six balls later, its up at 53%

This is what he's good at. Running in and hitting the pitch hard and surprising batters with his bounce. Inglis, who was timing the ball so beautifully, is a little slow on his hook shot. The appeal is the literal definition of a polite enquiry. Hardik went up almost in hope, and umpire Menon rewarded it. Inglis brought DRS into the mix but it wouldn't save him. Ultra-edge instead just showed proof of the top edge through to the keeper. PBKS bat deep, Shreyas is still there and Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera have both had good IPLs in 2025. This chase is still on.

Huge wicket. Priyansh Arya has been a crucial part of PBKS' batting plans. And it is by playing like this that he has made himself invaluable. Going for his shots even though sometimes the length isn't there. He slices a length ball that others might have defended and waited for the bad ball later in the over, up in the air. Only goes as far as mid-off.

But once more, the incoming batter, Shreyas Iyer, is full of intent, because the field restrictions are still on. Gets a boundary and Inglis joins in the fun once more. PBKS 64 for 2 after six overs.

Weird over from Bumrah. Two balls on the pads, allowing straightforward flick shots. And then one ball in the slot (4-6m: good length in Tests, not so here), allowing Inglis to wind up and launch him down the ground. The battle peaks in the last ball when Inglis leaps off his feet to upper cut Bumrah and the tallest man on the ground - Topley - also leaps at deep third to try and catch it but misses by a whisker

A lot of teams in this IPL have attacked even after losing wickets in the powerplay. This field restriction period is seriously valuable. So holding back when you still have nine batters up your sleeve is counterproductive. That's the logic that Josh Inglis works out for himself as he targets Boult as soon as he walks out into the middle. A wicket-taking over ends even-stevens

Priyansh Arya shifts the balance in his team's favour in the next over. Incredible timing. And the audacity to play such shots in an IPL knockout game aged just 23.

There could have been a collision. Instead there is a wicket. Boult strikes up front once more (just that he had to wait till his second over)

Prabhsimran had greeted the left-arm quick with a whip over square leg for four. Now when he tries to pull him, the ball gets big and he top-edges it. Reece Topley is at short fine. Mitchell Santner is at deep square. Both men start chasing after the ball. Neither seems to have called. Up until the last minute it isn't clear who is going to go for the catch and who is going to back away. In the end, Santner backs away and Topley reeeeaches out in front of him and takes a good catch - although he was running backwards for it, Santner was running forwards so it was probably Santner's catch.

High-intent innings from Suryakumar Yadav (44 off 26), Tilak Varma (44 off 29) and Naman Dhir (37 off 18) gave Mumbai Indians a total of 203 for 6 against Punjab Kings with a spot in the final on the line. Qualifier 2 started two hours late due to rain in Ahmedabad.

The innings was filled with punches and counter punches. PBKS landed the first one, using Marcus Stoinis, who had bowled only four balls in the powerplay this season, to get rid of Rohit Sharma early. But Jonny Bairstow kept attacking. He helped ensure 43 runs were taken through overs three, five and six. PBKS rallied from there, getting rid of Bairstow immediately after the powerplay. Suryakumar had a quiet start - 3 off 6 - but as soon as he hit his first boundary - a swept six off Yuzvendra Chahal - he looked in the zone. Prior to today's game, his strike rate against the PBKS legspinner in the IPL was 117. Here, he went at 206. With 717 runs this season, Suryakumar claimed a world record - the highest aggregate by a non-opener in any T20 league, surpassing AB de Villiers' record (687) in IPL 2016.

Once again, PBKS found a way back, dismissing Suryakumar - Chahal having the last laugh - and Tilak in the space of three deliveries. But Dhir played a lovely cameo at the end, taking down Arshdeep Singh in the death to lift MI to a strong score on a pitch that looked like it was a little tacky. Slower balls had grip. PBKS bowled 27 of them to pick up two wickets. Kyle Jamieson changed his pace once every 2.67 deliveries on average and finished with figures of 4-0-30-1.

17th over

19th over

Hasn't worked today.

PBKS will have to finish their last two overs with an over-rate penalty. They can have only four fielders on the boundary and that handicap comes to haunt them immediately. Dhir starts the 19th over with a pulled four through square leg.

MI took the powerplay, scoring 43 runs through overs three, four and six.

PBKS hit back. Just eight runs and a wicket through the seventh and eighth overs

MI take control. Fifty runs in four overs (9-12)

PBKS hit back. Twenty-three runs and two wickets in three overs (13-15)

MI turn the tables again (helped by overthrows that turns two runs into six)

But last ball, PBKS get rid of Hardik Pandya. Punch-counter punch.

Kyle Jamieson finishes his spell with 1 for 30. The reason he's been that miserly is because he trusted his slower ball. He bowled nine of them, which means he was attempted one every 2.67 deliveries. A very Test match type of bowler is adapting and learning to work with the conditions even when they're against him.

Prior to today, SKY's strike rate against Chahal was 117. Today it was 206.25. That means he was feeling good. So obviously in that frame of mind, he was always going to keep attacking, force one of PBKS' trump cards out of the reckoning. But Chahal - even when he gets hit around the park - is able to keep his cool and force a mistake. SKY sweeps straight to deep square leg. Gone for 44 off 26. And two balls later, the other set batter, Tilak Varma is gone too.

Four of the six overs between the ninth and the 14th had at least two boundaries in them. And then that happens.

SKY was 3 off 6. Now he's 30 off 18. Ups the tempo like few can.

Jamieson was just about to complete a really good over, despite going for a boundary early. He strung three slower balls back to back, going into the pitch, and beat SKY three times. But the margin of error against a player like Surya is so small. For the last ball of the over, he sets up for the slower short ball, holds his shape and pulls it between deep square leg and deep midwicket.

Considering the grip the slower balls got earlier in the innings, this looks like a grippy kind of pitch. And to have more than 100 on the board at the half-way stage is good work for the side batting first. It's not quite unassailable though. The good news is Surya has begun finding the middle of the bat too. Boundaries from both ends now.

Three fours and two sixes in the 18 balls between the ninth and 11th overs. One of those sixes was off Chahal, where SKY shifted himself outside off stump to make the most of a ball that was just slightly leg-sidish. By the time he swept it though, it felt like a wide ball. That's the advantage of decisive footwork. ESPNcricinfo's forecaster says MI are looking good for a total of 215.

Surya has not found his range. He's attempted two of his standing scoop shots and both of them found the fielder, placed nice and fine in anticipation of that shot.

Tilak though has found his range. He was 17 off 12 in the seventh over. Since then he's hit 14 off 7 balls, including a four and a gloriously timed, high-elbow-extension-of-the-defence six over long-off.

Yuzvendra Chahal comes on to back up Vyshak's wicket-taking seventh over. He has a good match-up against Suryakumar - 84 runs in 75 balls for three dismissals in the IPL

The slower ball has been hard to get away. And now it's resulted in a wicket too. Timely one for PBKS. Vyshak is a very particular kind of bowler. He doesn't bother with swing. He doesn't really have a lot of pace. Check that, he bowled 146 kph! Still what he does best is just point blank refuse to get lined up.

His first over started with a wide yorker. Then had a leg-cutter knuckle ball. Then a seam up knuckle ball. And finally an offcutter knuckle ball, which Bairstow premeditated to try and scoop, so ended up with the worst possible shot option. That shot works when there is pace on the ball. Here he is the one that has to put the pace on it and can't. Gets caught behind

MI lost Rohit off the 14th ball of the innings.

They haven't stopped attacking though. In the next 22 balls to close out the powerplay, they attempted a boundary 11 times. Succeeded five times. Bairstow was the one pushing. And even though sometimes PBKS' into the wicket slower balls messed with his bat-swing, he's kept going.

Arshdeep is looking at a big summer ahead. He's been picked to play for India in the England Tests even though his first-class record is patchy at best (21 games in five years, hasn't played any since Oct 2024). But he's a left-armer. He moves the ball both ways. And he's clever. In the fifth over, he throttled his pace down so that when he dug in the short ball, it was a proper surprise ball. Tilak Varma is lucky to be out there. Top-edge doesn't carry to deep square leg running in off the boundary. The ability to think on his feet and pose several threats - moving the ball when he pitches it up and hurrying the batters when he goes short - is why India's selectors have taken the punt.

Of all the places for a wicket to come from, it's Marcus Stoinis' golden arm. The ball is set up for Rohit's shot. The pick-up pull shot. But he's just picked up one of the only two deep fielders allowed. Caught at deep square leg.

That is just Stoinis' ninth wicket in the powerplay in his entire IPL career. He had bowled only four balls inside the field restrictions prior to this game this season. Gut instinct from Shreyas? Or did the dressing room have a little input?

Rohit Sharma - nervously - facing an Arshdeep Singh delivery that curves back into him is how Qualifier 2 kicks off. Left-arm pace is a useful weapon to have against him and PBKS possess someone who amplifies that with both-ways movement. Rohit has been averaging under 18 against left-arm pace in this IPL.

Very pleasant first over, with Bairstow letting Arshdeep get away with a full toss which went for only a single to mid-on

And its gonna be a full 20-over game! Guess they had a little leeway there. Or time just has no meaning when you get to make the rules.

Covers coming off. Punjab players have begun warming up. We might be looking at a reduced game though. 9.30pm IST was last call for the full 20 overs

There wasn't anything on the forecast for tonight in Ahmedabad. But clearly our methods of following weather patterns has room for improvement. The rain's picked up sharply again. We're just gonna have to wait and watch, folks.

It's raining again.

The covers are back.

Super soppers going around the turf. The umpires are taking a nice, long look at the pitch. Nitin Menon runs his hand over it to check for signs of moisture. Now they're into discussions with the groundstaff, presumably about how quickly they could get the outfield ready to play again. Quick chat with PBKS coach Ricky Ponting as well. Yuzvendra Chahal was there too. And we have official word that play will start at 8.25pm

Ticked into half an hour's time lost - but no overs just yet. The rain has reduced in its intensity but it's still there. The covers are still on. The players are milling about. Arshdeep Singh is by the practice pitches, warming up because he'll be taking the new ball and it might be pretty soon.

An uninvited visitor has entered the chat. Just as the PBKS were walking out on the red carpet, with those flame-throwey things flanking them on both sides, a drizzle started to hit and now it's taken firm hold. We have two hours' time before overs start getting reduced because these are the playoffs. And even with that grace period, if this turns out to be a washout, PBKS go through because they finished higher on the points table in the group stage.

Punjab Kings chose to field in Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad on the basis of "overcast" weather. Shreyas Iyer, the PBKS captain, also spoke of how the pitch had been under the covers leading into match day, which suggests there might be some help early on for the fast bowlers, and also the possibility of rain impacting proceedings.

PBKS are "recovered and rejuvenated" after they were knocked out for 101 in Qualifier 1 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. That upbeat mood might also have something to do with Yuzvendra Chahal being fit enough to play this game. Harpreet Brar made way.

Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, also wanted to bowl. He used to be the home captain in Ahmedabad and believed conditions here had flattened out since his time as captain of Gujarat Titans in 2022. That tallies with the numbers from IPL 2025. Ahmedabad has hosted seven matches and all of them have seen scores of 195-plus. Six of the seven games there this season have been won by the team batting first. Mumbai had one change with left-arm quick Reece Topley coming in for Richard Gleeson.

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Naman Dhir, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Raj Bawa, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Reece Topley

MI Impact Bench: Ashwani Kumar, KL Shrijith, Raghu Sharma, Robin Minz, Bevon Jacobs

Punjab Kings: 1 Priyansh Arya, 2 Josh Inglis (wk), 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nehal Wadhera, 5 Shashank Singh, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Azmatullah Omarzai, 8 Vyshak Vijaykumar, 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Arshdeep Singh

PBKS Impact Bench: Prabhsimran Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Pravin Dubey