🏏IPL 2025 - Qualifier 2: PBKS vs MI at Ahmedabad @ 7:30pm🏏 - Page 3

Shreyas Iyer embraces T20 mode

Shreyas Iyer's career strike rate in the IPL is 132.23. Only once in the nine years that he played in this league until 2024 did his strike rate over the course of the season cross 140, and that was last year when he finished with 146.86 in 15 matches. This season, he has struck at 170.86 in 15 matches. He has hit 31 sixes in 302 balls this season. Only Suryakumar (35), Mitchell Marsh (37) and Nicholas Pooran (40) have struck more.

IPL 2025 Qualifier 2: Hardik Pandya the finisher

It has been a season of redemption for Hardik Pandya and also a season in which he got back to being a finisher in the IPL. Pandya was stuck between a rock and a hard place last season and before that, he had transitioned to being an anchor for GT. This season however, Pandya has shown just how devastatingly consistent he can be as a finisher. He has smashed 109 off 53 balls at a strike rate of 205.66 between overs 17 and 20, the second highest among 16 batters who have faced at least 50 balls in this phase. Only Heinrich Klaasen is ahead of Hardik with a strike rate of 237.03.

A wounded Punjab Kings vs Bumrah and Boult

Punjab Kings' success this season was built on their belligerent top order. And it was that very top order that got ripped to pieces by Hazlewood and Co. in the first qualifier, which eventually led to PBKS equalling the record for the lowest ever IPL playoff score. Today, they face arguably a greater threat in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. It will be interesting to see how they fare.

Suryakumar Yadav's Orange Cap chances

B Sai Sudharsan has been leading the Orange Cap race for quite some time now, to the point that it looked like he would be keeping it at the end of the season. But now, Suryakumar Yadav has a serious chance at snatching it off him in the last minute. SKY is sitting on 673 runs while Sudharsan scored 759.

Yuzvendra Chahal the antidote for SKY and Bairstow?

Jonny Bairstow hit the ground running for MI in the Eliminator, scoring 47 off 22 balls in an 84-run opening stand with Rohit Sharma. Suryakumar Yadav has had one of his greatest IPL seasons ever. Punjab Kings might just have the perfect solution to keeping these two quiet in the form of Yuzvendra Chahal. The legspinner has dismissed Bairstow four times in six IPL innings while keeping him to 29 off 35 balls. Chahal has also limited Suryakumar to 83 off 71 balls while dismissing him three times in the IPL.

Come on punjab do something extraordinary and win this one

Shashank Singh ne top 2 kaa prediction kiya tha, final mein jaane ki koi baat nahin hui thi

We are almost in the home stretch now. In three days, we will see a team being crowned new IPL champions. And today we have two teams facing the penultimate hurdle on their voyage to achieve ultimate glory, two teams who have had differing journeys this year -- but none less thrilling and emotionally charged than the other -- to get to this very point. Hello and welcome to ESPNcricinfo's live coverage of Qualifier 2 of IPL 2025. I am Abhimanyu, and along with Ekanth, we'll be your eyes and ears through the ups and downs of what should be a humdinger.

In the proverbial red corner, we have Punjab Kings. One-time finalists, hunting their first title. Coached by a man who in his playing days made winning titles almost a mandate, and led by a captain who lifted the trophy last year. A team brimming with players who more than make up for where they lack in experience with their electric talent. A team whose season has been defined by their brave, young opening pair who are an embodiment of their no-holds-barred approach that has seen them have their best season in more than a decade.

And their opponents in the blue corner, Mumbai Indians, need little introduction. Five-time champions. Six-time finalists. The man who led them to those five titles is not even their captain any more. Their captain led a brand-new team to a title in their first year of trying. They have SKY and Bumrah. SKY and Bumrah! When it comes to the business end of the tournament, they are the embodiment of 'been there, done that'.

So what will it be today? The battle-hardened veterans who put in a dominating performance to get here or the young guns keen to show they are not pretenders, but rather genuine contenders despite a recent slip-up? Stay tuned to find out!

Avi: "Hey cricinfo I'm not Mustafa Moudi but I've got a stat of his standards. In 2014, Punjab last played Q2 and an opener from Delhi scored a scintillating century. In the opposition playing at no. 3 was a T20 great of his era, who too played a gem of a knock."

Sharan: "Punjab started their campaign from Ahmedabad and made a thumping statement on that day. 2 months later they arrive back to Ahmedabad after topping the points table to make another statement that they have in them to be the league winner"

Naman: "In 2014 the final was extended to the month of June and Punjab went on to play it. 11 years later the final has been scheduled in June and guess what Punjab is playing a qualifier-2"

PBKS have had bursts of domination and then quiet periods, but were sharp in their run-in to the knockout stages, including a win over MI in their final league game to finish as table-toppers, and consign MI to the Eliminator. Then, disaster struck. Was it nerves? Was it inexperience? Or was it simply a case of not being able to read the conditions and adapt to the situation? Whatever it was, they will want to quickly put their collapse in New Chandigarh behind them, keeping with them only the important lessons on how to avoid a repetition.

MI, in contrast, looked like they were in for another long season. Instead, they went on a comeback trail to remember and found themselves in the knockouts. In the Eliminator, they put in a stunning batting display, putting up only the second-highest score in a knockout or playoff match as they blew Gujarat Titans away. They will want to continue on their upward trend, and continue to remind the world just why they are are the joint-record holders for most IPL titles.

Kartar: "Just a small request - When MI are playing, please don't call it a T20 game. For MI it is 20 over game, for the opposition it's only 16 over game because that man Bumrah gets to bowl 4 overs" -- And that brings me to what I have been waiting to talk about next. When he is involved in the match, you ask anyone who is most likely to be the biggest influence on that game, the answer is almost always going to be Jasprit Bumrah. And after facing the wrath of Hazlegod, Punjab Kings now come up against another otherworldly entity in the form of the Mumbai Indians pacer. In this fantastic piece, Sid Monga chronicles just why Bumrah is so far ahead of the rest.

Mustafa Moudi: "Fun Fact: SKY have not scored less than 25 in any match this season while Shreyas Iyer have not lost consecutive matches in his captaincy since the last season 2024. I have a feeling that one of these streaks is going to break tonight !!"

Garish Kalia: "Good morning from Brampton, Canada. We have more PBKS fans in a city than any other place in the World outside India. Go PBKS Go."

18:15 Local Time, 12:45 GMT: The IPL 2025 race is nearly done. We have officially reached the start of the finish line. Just two final games and three teams remain. While RCB sit back and wait for their opponents on Tuesday, both Mumbai and Punjab will battle it out tonight for a slot in the all-important final. Hello and a booming welcome to Qualifier 2. Let's hope we have a thrilling game on our hands.