PBKS vs MI IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 Highlights: Battle of reds in the final as Shreyas Iyer leads the Kings to the final

Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2025 Qualifier 2: Man of the Match

Shreyas Iyer was named the player of the match for his match-winning knock in the second innings. The PBKS skipper played one of the finest knocks of his career in the Indian Premier League. He was the pick among the batters as he endured a great deal of pressure from not only the big knockout match but also the huge chase that his team needed to put together. He started pretty slowly in an uncharacteristic manner, having scored only 12 runs off the first 11 balls. But quickly changed the gears and ended up scoring 87 runs in only 41 balls, hitting five fours and eight sixes. 

Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2025 Qualifier 2: Top Performers

Shreyas Iyer - 87* (41)

Shreyas Iyer played a captain’s knock when his team needed it the most. The right-handed batter started his knock pretty slowly in an uncharacteristic manner. He had scored only 12 runs off the first 11 balls he had faced. However, he made up for the slow start in a jiffy with some necessary blows against Reece Topley. He struck three sixes in a row in the 13th over, which changed the course of the match. Iyer reached his fifty in only 27 balls and brought down the asking rate substantially. The right-handed batter played one of the finest knocks of his career. He seemed to be in a hurry when 23 runs were needed off the last two overs and struck four sixes to win the clash with five wickets and an over remaining. Iyer’s knock featured five fours and eight colossal sixes. 

Nehal Wadhera - 48 (29)

Along with Shreyas Iyer, it was Nehal Wadhera who was making all the difference in the middle overs. The young left-handed batter took on the aggressor role when Iyer was taking his time to settle into the knock. His aggressive knock allowed Iyer not to take any needless risks. Wadhera ended up two runs short of a highly-deserved half-century off 29 deliveries. He struck four fours and a couple of sixes in his knock. 

Josh Inglis - 38 (21)

Josh Inglis continued his fine form against the Mumbai Indians from the previous meeting between the two sides. The Aussie batter was named the player of the match when the two teams met in Jaipur a few days ago. He started his innings on a great note and attacked MI’s best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, in his first over. In the power play, he had scored 33 runs in only 13 balls, but could not carry the same momentum after the restrictions were lifted and was eventually dismissed. 

Suryakumar Yadav - 44 (26)

Suryakumar Yadav, for the 16th time in the season, went past the 25-run mark and extended his record further. The right-handed batter, albeit falling short of his half-century, made a strong impact with the bat in hand. He scored 44 runs in only 26 balls while sharing a handy stand with Tilak Varma. It was a slow start for him as he scored only a solitary run off the first four balls. He was dismissed by Chahal for the fifth time in T20s before hitting three sixes and four fours. 

Tilak Varma - 44 (29)

Tilak Varma made an identical score to Suryakumar Yadav while playing only three balls more than the Indian skipper. The left-handed batter started his knock in a frenetic manner, trying to muscle every ball to the boundary. He was a bit lucky in the initial stage with some mis-hits landing in no man’s land. He ended up scoring 44 runs in 29 balls, hitting a couple of fours and sixes each.

Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2025 Qualifier 2: 1st Innings Summary

Once again, Jonny Bairstow provided a fiery start to the innings for the Mumbai Indians. Even though Rohit Sharma was dismissed early in the innings, the English batter played a great hand and made full use of the power play. He was dismissed 12 runs short of his fifty shortly after the first six overs. 

Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav shared a great stand for the third wicket. The two batters for the better part of their partnership played risk-free shots and still managed to maintain a run rate of 10 runs per over. While the two batters were dismissed for 44 runs each, their innings played a huge role in MI ending up with a total of 203 runs. 

Punjab Kings crawled their way back in the game with back-to-back wickets of the two set batters. Yuzvendra Chahal, returning to the team after being pretty expensive in his spell, dismissed Suryakumar on the penultimate ball of his spell. It was the fifth time in T20s that Chahal had dismissed Sky. Kyle Jamieson, too, capped off a great spell of four overs with a wicket, dismissing Tilak. The Kiwi pacer was the pick among the bowlers for PBKS as he gave away only 30 runs in his four overs. 

MI finished strongly courtesy of Naman Dhir. The right-handed batter struck at a strike rate of more than 200 for his 37 runs. He provided the impetus for MI to go past the 200-run mark. 

Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2025 Qualifier 2: 2nd Innings Summary

In spite of losing a couple of wickets in the power play, Punjab Kings dominated the proceedings thanks to a flying start from Josh Inglis. The Aussie batter took on the MI bowlers, including Jasprit Bumrah, hitting 20 runs off his first over. It took a great effort from Mitchell Santner and eventually Hardik Pandya to quiet him down and then dismiss him.

The Mumbai Indians dominated the three-over phase right after the restrictions were lifted. Mitchell Santner started his spell with a six-run over before Pandya picked up the all-important wicket of Josh Inglis in the eighth over. Only 17 runs were scored in those overs as MI tightened their grasp over the clash. Ashwani Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bowled the 11th and 12th overs and gave away only 11 runs to put more pressure on PBKS.

Shreyas Iyer then took on the charge against Reece Topley in the 13th over. The PBKS skipper struck three sixes in a row as Topley served up three half-volleys without much change of pace. 

Ashwani was once again at the centre of all attention as he took the crucial wicket that broke the stand between Iyer and Wadhera. It was a much-needed wicket for the five-time champions at an important juncture. Hardik Pandya struck a direct hit at the stumps to pick up another wicket in quick succession.

Iyer remained at the crease and made sure that his taking that extra time at the start of the innings did not bite PBKS back. The right-handed batter showcased an enormous level of calm under a great deal of pressure. It was his three fours behind the stumps that came off three yorkers by Boult and Bumrah that made his knock stand apart. He struck four sixes in the penultimate over against Ashwani to finish off in style. 

Awards given in the PBKS vs MI Qualifier 2 Match

After a subsequent amount of rain interruptions, the much anticipated Qualifier 2 started at 9:45 pm yesterday with no overs lost. With losing the previous match batting first, PBKS decided to bowl first this time. It seemed like they had made the right decision as PBKS took the early wicket of the dangerous Rohit Sharma in the 3rd over. Then the explosive Jonny Bairstow and Tilak Verma stretched a partnership but Vijaykumar Vyshak took the crucial wicket of Bairstow. Then the Mumbai team kept piling on the runs despite losing wickets as they posted a strong total of 203 with the loss of 6 wickets. Then coming into bat, PBKS too lost the early wicket of Prabhsimran Singh but the Aussie wicketkeeper batsman Josh Inglis continued his good form and played a nice cameo of 38 in just 21 balls. Then the partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Nehal Wadhera proved to be the difference. At the end, Shreyas Iyer played a captain’s knock and finished the match with 87 not out in just 41 balls. 

• Super Striker of the Match: Shreyas Iyer ( Strike rate of 212.20)

• Super Sixes of the Match: Shreyas Iyer ( 8 sixes)

• Fantasy King of the Match: Shreyas Iyer

• Most Fours in the Match: Naman Dhir ( 7 fours)

• Most Dot Balls in the Match: Trent Boult

• Player of the Match: Shreyas Iyer ( 87 off 41 balls)

Key Moments of the Match 

• In the previous match of the Mumbai Indians in the eliminator, the opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow played gave a good start which allowed the MI to post a really big total. But in this match in Qualifier 2, Rohit got out cheaply and couldn't get a good start. The wicket of Rohit was the first key moment of the match.

• The second key moment of the match happened when Yuzi Chahal got the crucial wicket of Suryakumar Yadav despite being hit in that over. The wicket of SKY was very important as Surya could have been dangerous at the back end of the over.

• The third key moment of the match happened after the fall of Surya and Hardik, Naman Dhir stayed till the 19th over and played a crucial knock of 37 runs in just 18 balls.

• The fourth key moment of the match happened in the PBKS batting innings after they lost the first wicket cheaply in the name of Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis continued the hitting momentum and scored a quick fire 38 runs in just 21 balls and didn’t allow the MI bowlers to hit a particular length. Also Inglis took on the best bowler of MI, Jasprit Bumrah for 20 runs in his first over.

• The fifth key moment of the match happened when the skipper Shreyas Iyer and Nehal Wadhera stretched a partnership of 84 runs and the skipper Shreyas Iyer remained 87 not out at the end when proved to be the difference between the two teams.