Shreyas Iyer led from the front as Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets to advance to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final. It began on Sunday, June 1st, in Ahmedabad. For the first time in eleven years, PBKS has advanced to the final.
Jonny Bairstow opened the scoring for Mumbai before Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav took over. They scored 72 runs for the third wicket before PBKS responded by getting rid of Tilak and Suryakumar in a short period of time. But with a swashbuckling finale of 37 runs off 18 balls, Naman Dhir led MI to 203 in 20 overs.
In response, PBKS got off to a terrible start, losing openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh during the powerplay. Before Shreyas Iyer took over, Josh Inglis attempted some offensive shots to shift the game’s momentum. With one over remaining, the Punjab skipper led the side to victory with an undefeated score of 87 off 41 balls, which included five boundaries and eight sixes.
The showcase fixture fell at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where many records and milestones fell. With that, let’s have a look at three milestones surmounted in Qualifier 2 of PBKS vs MI.
1. Suryakumar Yadav sets new record for most runs by a non-opener in an IPL season
Suryakumar Yadav has had another fantastic season with the bat. He was MI’s top batsman, with 717 runs at an average of 65.18 in 16 games, including five half-centuries. In a single IPL season, this is the most runs scored by a non-opener.
Suryakumar surpassed AB de Villiers’ 687 runs scored in the IPL 2016 while playing for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Third place goes to Rishabh Pant, who scored 684 runs in the 2018 IPL.
2. Suryakumar Yadav has the second-most sixes in a single season among Indians
In the all important Qualifier 2, PBKS didn’t get to bat as ace Indian batter was key in taking Mumbai to 203. Suryakumar smashed 44 off 26 balls including four fours and three sixes.
A right handed batter hit and took his tally to 38 in IPL 2025; the second most by an Indian batter in an IPL season. With 42, he is SunRisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma, barely ahead of him, as his team reached IPL 2024 final.
3. Most sixes hit in an IPL season
As pitches have become more batting-friendly and grounds have been shorter, six-hitting has become easier for batters. IPL 2025 has seen a ton of sixes, and as of Qualifier 2, the total stands at 1271 maximums, the most in a single IPL season. It surpasses the 1260 sixes from the previous year.
