Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 2 (ANI): Punjab Kings (PBKS) made history on Sunday night by chasing 204 against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Qualifier two of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, pulling off the highest-ever run-chase during a playoff/knockout match in the history of the competition.
PBKS led by Shreyas Iyer were a different gravy during the all-important clash against MI. Even though the five-time champions put up 203/6 on the board with notable contributions from Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir and threw the Men in Red on backfoot with some early strikes, PBKS pulled off a masterclass chase led by their captain, the first time ever a 200-plus target was successfully chased against MI.
The 2014 and 2025 finalists might not have the trophies to their name and could get one on Tuesday, but entertainment and a hard-hitting brand of cricket remains their biggest asset. It is the eighth 200-plus target successfully chased by PBKS, the most by a team in the IPL.
While the occasion makes this run-chase extremely special, the crown jewel of this all remains a 262-run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens last year, powered by a Jonny Bairstow century and a fifty each from Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh. This still remains the highest-ever run-chase in T20 history.
During this tournament, PBKS has posted scores above 200 nine times, the most by a team in a T20 competition. This is also the ninth successful 200-plus chase of IPL 2025, the most in a single edition.
Will the T20 cricket’s newest masters of 200 lift the title on Tuesday?
PBKS won the toss and opted to bowl first. After losing Rohit Sharma early, a 51-run stand between Jonny Bairstow (38 in 24 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (44 in 29 balls, with two fours and two sixes) pushed MI forward. A 72-run partnership for the third wicket between Tilak and Suryakumar Yadav (44 in 26 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) helped MI keep a healthy run rate. All MI then needed was a final push from Naman Dhir (37 in 18 balls, with seven fours) to take MI to 203/6 in 20 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai (2/43) was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS. Kyle Jamieson, Marcus Stoinis, Yuzi Chahal and Vijaykumar Vyshak took a wicket each.
In the run chase, PBKS had some stumbles initially despite a blitz from Josh Inglis (38 in 21 balls, with five fours and a six), who took down Jasprit Bumrah for 20 runs in an over.
An 84-run stand between Nehal Wadhera (48 in 29 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and skipper Shreyas Iyer helped PBKS maintain the required tempo for the chase. After quick dismissals of Wadhera and Shashank reduced PBKS to 169/5 in 16.4 overs, a ruthless Shreyas (87* in 41 balls, with five fours and eight sixes) took down pace to guide his team to five wicket win with an over left.
Ashwani Kumar (2/55) was the top bowler for MI. Trent Boult (1/38) and Hardik Pandya (1/19) took one wicket each. Bumrah was wicketless for 40 runs in four overs.
Iyer was given the ‘Player of the Match’ honour for his clutch knock.
The final between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru is set for Tuesday at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. (ANI)
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