Punjab Kings seal top-two IPL finish with demolition of Mumbai Indians

Both teams entered the penultimate fixture of the regular season assured of a playoff spot, but Punjab knew a victory would see them skip the eliminator and advance straight to the first qualifier, where the victor reaches the final.

They were set a potentially testing target of 185 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, but half-centuries from Priyansh Arya (62 off 35) and Josh Inglis (73 off 42) got them over the line with nine balls to spare.

Suryakumar Yadav was Mumbai's outstanding batsman, bringing up a competition-record 14th straight score of 25 or more with his 39-ball knock of 57.

That came after MI lost their openers for 81, Ryan Rickelton (27) handing Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer an easy take before Rohit Sharma (24) fell to a far more difficult diving catch from Nehal Wadhera.

A tough night in Jaipur for the boys.Next up: Eliminator on the 30th. #MumbaiIndians #PlayLikeMumbai #TATAIPL #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/zykfYltZJE

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 26, 2025

Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Marco Jansen all took two wickets for the Kings, with the former's yorker trapping Yadav lbw from the final delivery of the innings.

Yadav said at the interval he felt the Indians were 10 to 15 runs short, and that proved prescient as PK set about overhauling their score of 184-7.

Jasprit Bumrah's fifth-over dismissal of Prabhsimran Singh, who toiled to 13, proved a false dawn for Mumbai as Punjab reached 143 before their next loss.

Arya put on a 109-run stand with Inglis before Mitchell Santner's delivery teased him into a strike that was taken by Yadav at long-off, but Inglis lasted another three overs before he was trapped lbw by the same bowler.

Punjab only needed 14 runs from as many balls by the time Inglis walked, and they required just three more deliveries to get over the line, Iyer (26*) sealing victory with a six.

We are just so so soooo happy! pic.twitter.com/X0UsQUX9g7

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) May 26, 2025

Arya came into Monday's match having posted single-figure scores in his last three IPL innings – scoring one run versus Lucknow Super Giants, nine versus Rajasthan Royals and six against Delhi Capitals.

And after he was let off on 37 by Hardik Pandya missing a run-out opportunity, he took full advantage to bring up his second-best score of the 2025 competition (after 69 versus Kolkata Knight Riders).

Both Punjab and Mumbai will now await the result of Tuesday's match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow.