Punjab Kings batter Shreyas Iyer played a captain’s knock as the Indian Premier League (IPL) table toppers beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the second qualifier on Sunday to set up a tantalising final with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Punjab had won the toss and opted to field before the rain came down and delayed the start of the game by more than two hours. But they did not lose any overs, with the match eventually finishing at well past 1:30 a.m.
Chasing a target of 204 for victory, Iyer smashed an unbeaten 87 off 41 balls with eight clean sixes as Punjab returned to the final for the first time in 11 years.
The result means Tuesday’s final at the same venue will crown a new IPL champion, with Bengaluru also falling short in the summit clash in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
Punjab lost to Bengaluru in the first playoff match on Thursday, but they will now have another shot at winning their maiden trophy.
“I love big occasions. I always tell my team, the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are,” said Iyer, who captained Kolkata to the title last year before moving to Punjab.
“We shouldn’t think about where we went wrong (against Bengaluru) because throughout the season we’ve been playing amazing… One match cannot define us as a team.”
GOOD START
Punjab had a good start when Rohit Sharma fell cheaply in the third over but Jonny Bairstow (38) and Tilak Varma (44) went after the bowling before Suryakumar Yadav smashed three sixes and four boundaries in his quick-fire knock of 44.
A mammoth total looked on the cards but Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Suryakumar while Azmatullah Omarzai picked up two wickets, including skipper Hardik Pandya, to restrict Mumbai to 203-6.
In response, Punjab scored 64 runs in the powerplay with Josh Inglis (38) leading the charge before Iyer and Nehal Wadhera stitched together an 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket to frustrate Mumbai.
While Iyer effortlessly accelerated the run rate with three consecutive sixes in an expensive Reece Topley over, Wadhera rode his luck with some loose shots that found the boundary to put the pressure back on Mumbai.
Wadhera fell for 48 but Iyer notched up his half-century in 27 balls before denying Jasprit Bumrah a wicket with a fine boundary off a yorker.
Iyer then welcomed Ashwani Kumar back into the attack with a high and handsome six before clearing the ropes three more times as the 19th over went for 26 runs and Punjab won the game with an over to spare.
“The way he batted, he took his chances. Some of the shots he played were really outstanding,” a bitterly disappointed Hardik said.
(Reuters)
