A statement win from the Kings ahead of the playoffs, and with this result, they climb to the top of the table, though their final position will hinge on the outcome of the last league match. Regardless, Punjab are assured of a place in Qualifier 1, while Mumbai are locked in at fourth and will feature in the Eliminator. Punjab’s opponent in Qualifier 1 will be determined by the clash in Lucknow between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday, 27th May. If Bengaluru win, they will face Punjab, but if LSG win, Gujarat will contest Qualifier 1. That game will begin at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT), but as always, you can join us early for the build-up. Until then, take care and goodbye!

Josh Inglis of the Punjab Kings is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his match-winning knock of 73 in just 42 balls, including 3 sixes and 9 fours. He collects the award and walks up to have a chat. He is all smiles and on the partnership with young Priyansh Arya, he says the left-right combination, especially with the short boundary, worked well for them. Says it was about playing smart cricket and they didn't want to let things slip in the middle phase. Admits that it would have been nice if any one of them had stayed till the end. On facing Santner, he says it was a cat and mouse with him as he is a fantastic and smart bowler, and he has faced him several times before as well. On the conversation with Priyansh, he appreciates by calling him a fantastic player. Says he didn't feel the need to tell much to him and felt nice batting with him. Adds that Arya picked up his matchups nicely. On being told about doing things quickly, he points out that he doesn't run quickly and hasn't got the power of the other guys so has to run hard between the wickets. 

The captain of the Punjab Kings, Shreyas Iyer, says he personally feels every individual stepped up at the right time and in every other game, someone has put their hand up and delivered. He also praises how the support staff has been helping them. Shares that the way Priyansh Arya started today was fantastic, and overall, every individual has been fantastic in their approach. States that Josh Inglis has been the only batter who has batted at different positions and he is someone who loves to bat against the new ball and hence they promoted him to take advantage of the Powerplay and it has worked wonders. He tells Ricky Ponting has been fantastic with the player management and the more interactions you have with players, the more confidence you get and the relationship grows. He mentions the dressing room has been top class throughout. Adds that with Ricky, he has a great camaraderie, and Ricky gives him freedom to go on the field and execute the plans.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

The head coach of the Punjab Kings, Ricky Ponting, is in for a chat. Ponting says that he is very pleased for the team as a lot of hard work goes into the preparation. States that it’s a big thing for him too, to come into a new team as a coach and make a difference straightaway. He feels it’s obvious that the team is talented and it’s a great achievement until now. Adds that the big games are around the corner, so they need to be ready for that. He mentions that some of the youngsters in the team have been incredible, with the likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya and Josh Inglis all having stepped up and delivered. He also praises Shreyas Iyer for the way he has batted and the way he has captained the team on and off the field has been great to watch. He says he was keen to work with Iyer and it was pretty obvious given the amount they spent to purchase him in the auction. Shares that Shreyas is a quality person and a player, and any team needs such players to build a great franchise. He also praises the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh for the way they have stepped up at different times and have paid for the confidence the team has shown in them. He says they will celebrate tonight. Adds that all the support staff, the social media team, and everyone will celebrate tonight. He agrees that they will miss Marco Jansen in the playoffs. He says that Marco is a quality player with the bat, ball and in the field. He mentions that they played Kyle Jamieson in this game to give him a feel and get him ready for the playoffs and they will see how it goes.

The captain of the Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya, reflects on the defeat. He admits that the way the wicket played, he feels they were 15-20 runs short with the bat. Adds they couldn't play their best cricket this time around, which cost them the game. Says the IPL is like that, if you don't push harder, the other teams are waiting to get ahead. Adds that the message to the team will be simple, to take it as a small blip and learn from the mistakes and look forward to the Eliminator. Reiterates that their batting needed to capitalise to get 20 more runs. On not using Karn Sharma as their impact sub, he says they decided to back Ashwani for this game as the wicket felt that it would support him. Feels that there was not much difference in the pitch between the innings. Admits their bowling wasn't clinical. Appreciates the way PBKS' batters played and highlights that the second wicket stand was outstanding. Points that they took on certain balls whenever the bowlers erred. Accepts that as a bowling unit, they gave away a few balls, which they really capitalised on. On playing the Eliminator, he mentions that they just want to play good cricket going forward and figure out the right template moving ahead. Says there's not much panic as they knew what was at stake. States that nothing changes for them and they will back themselves. 

After MI were asked to bat first, Rohit Sharma had a scratchy start, while Ryan Rickelton managed a few boundaries but couldn’t kick on. The middle overs turned into an arm-wrestle, with PBKS breaking partnerships just as MI looked to gain momentum. Suryakumar Yadav held the innings together, supported by quick cameos from those after him. However, the final flourish didn’t materialise as Arshdeep Singh conceded just 3 runs in the 20th over, limiting MI to 184.

Hardik Pandya turned to his trump card, Jasprit Bumrah, for as many as three single-over spells outside the Powerplay in search of a breakthrough, but the PBKS pair managed to see off the threat. Neither Arya nor Inglis was there at the end, but their 109-run stand broke the back of the chase, with Shreyas Iyer providing the finishing touches.

Suryakumar Yadav felt at the halfway mark that his side were 10-15 runs short, and the ease with which PBKS chased down the total proved that to be true. Unfazed by the loss of his opening partner, Priyansh Arya got off the blocks quickly, with Josh Inglis following suit. Both batters complemented each other well and smartly picked the right bowlers to target. 

Punjab Kings punch their ticket to Qualifier 1 with an emphatic win! A loss in the previous game had put their top-two hopes in jeopardy, but they bounced back in grand style and will now have two cracks at reaching the final. As for the Mumbai Indians, the stars had aligned with every other result going their way, but they couldn’t finish the job themselves. They will now have to take the Eliminator route as they chase a record sixth title.

Nehal Wadhera walks out to the middle.