First-time IPL winner guaranteed as Punjab book final clash with RCB

A first-time winner of the Indian Premier League is guaranteed after Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the second qualifier on Sunday to set up a tantalising final with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Chasing 204 for victory, Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer played a gem of a knock, hitting an unbeaten 87 off 41 balls to see his side into a first final in 11 years.

In Tuesday’s final – live on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Mix – they will meet RCB, who also fell short in 2009, 2011 and 2016, and have Indian great Virat Kohli searching for that elusive first IPL crown.

Punjab lost to Bengaluru in Thursday’s first playoff match, but made the most of their second chance when defeating five-time champions Mumbai in their rain-delayed qualifier.

Punjab had won the toss and opted to field before the weather intervened and delayed the start of the game by more than two hours. With no overs lost despite the delay, the match eventually finished well past 1.30am local time as Iyer smashed his eighth six to win the game with an over to spare.

“I love big occasions. I always tell my team, the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are,” said Iyer, who captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the title last year before moving to Punjab.

“We shouldn’t think about where we went wrong [against Bengaluru] because throughout the season we’ve been playing amazing. One match cannot define us as a team.”

Punjab enjoyed the perfect start to the delayed contest when Rohit Sharma (8) fell cheaply in the third over, but Jonny Bairstow (38 off 24) and Tilak Varma (44 off 29) went after the bowling before Suryakumar Yadav smashed three sixes and four boundaries in his quick-fire knock of 44 off only 26 deliveries.

A mammoth total looked on the cards but Yuzvendra Chahal (1-39) dismissed Suryakumar while Azmatullah Omarzai (2-43) picked up two wickets, including Indians skipper Hardik Pandya (15), to restrict Mumbai to 203-6.

In response, Punjab scored 64 runs in the powerplay, with Josh Inglis (38 off 21) leading the charge before Iyer and Nehal Wadhera (48 off 29) stitched together an 84-run partnership for the fourth wicket as they began to take the game away from Mumbai and book their place in the final.

Watch the 2025 IPL final between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, live on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Mix from 2.50pm on Tuesday (first ball 3pm)