AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer hit a 41-ball 87 not out as Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets on Sunday in a rain-delayed Qualifier 2 to reach the final of the Indian Premier League.
Skipper Iyer led from the front as he smashed eight sixes and five fours to lead Punjab to only its second IPL final.
Punjab set up a title clash with Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday – also in Ahmedabad. Neither team has ever won the IPL.
Punjab scored 207-5 to chase down Mumbai’s 203-6 (20 overs) with an over to spare.
This was after the game was delayed by more than two hours because of rain. No overs were lost and the match started at 9:40 p.m. local time.
Quick start
After losing the toss, Mumbai started quickly with Jonny Bairstow scoring 38 off 24 balls, including two sixes, after Rohit Sharma was out cheaply for eight.
Bairstow and Tilak Varma (44) added 51 for the second wicket.
Varma then put on 72 runs off seven overs with Suryakumar Yadav, whose 26-ball 44 included three sixes. Their partnership saw Mumbai heading for a 200-plus total.
But wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal provided the breakthrough in the 14th over and then Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai struck twice in the death overs as Mumbai lost steam.
Naman Dhir scored 37 off 18 but Mumbai was short by about 20 runs on a fine batting surface.
Punjab's chase
Left-arm pacer Trent Boult provided the early wicket for Mumbai when in-form opener Prabhsimran Singh was out for six. Co-opener Priyansh Arya was also out for 20.
Josh Inglis helped provide the momentum with 38 off 21 balls. But Iyer took over thereafter, helped by Nehal Wadhera's 48 off 29.
Even star pacer Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t unleash his magic – he went for 0-40 in four overs.
Iyer hit 50 off 27 balls – his sixth half-century of the season – and then accelerated further, scoring the next 37 off only 14 balls.
He hit four sixes either side of his 50-mark, signaling the end of Mumbai’s campaign.
Punjab featured in the 2014 IPL final, losing to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Bengaluru has previously finished runners-up in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
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The Associated Press
