Mumbai Indians seemed to be destined for another dud of a season when the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 began. They lost four of their first five matches and it looked as if they would finish in the bottom half just like in IPL 2024 but that didn’t happen.
However, the turned things around in dramatic fashion once they beat Delhi Capitals in a thriller at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The 12-run win was the trigger Hardik Pandya’s men were wishing for as they went on to win six matches in a row and lost just two more times for the rest of the season. They very easily pipped other teams to the fourth and final playoffs spot with a second win over DC.
In the Eliminator, they bowled with a plan and batted with purpose to beat Gujarat Titans in a dominant fashion. They are set to face Punjab Kings who suffered a jolt in the Qualifier 1 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) after being all out for 101 and then losing the match by eight wickets.
It was not the case for PBKS until then. They became the third ever T20 side to score seven 200-plus scores while batting first in a single edition of a tournament. Shreyas Iyer’s team were excellent with the ball and even better with the bat as they won nine out their 14 league matches and lost four games.
As they plan to win the crucial Qualifier 2 and reach their first final since 2014, Punjab Kings received bad news in Ahmedabad.
Their practice session scheduled for Saturday evening was scrapped off due to the visibility being too low and the rain being consistent throughout the day.
Ahmedabad was also the host city when the last phase game of an IPL season had to be shifted. The IPL 2023 final between GT and Chenna Super Kings was played across two days after the first day’s play was cancelled due to heavy showers.
For IPL 2025, the governing council had initially picked Hyderabad and Kolkata for the last four games, but had to move them to Mullanpur and Ahmedabad on the Western side of the country due to inclement weather on the side of Bay of Bengal.
While the weather for Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator was perfect, a complete wash-out of Qualifier 2 will put Punjab Kings in advantage.
There is a reserve day for the final on June 3 but there is none for the playoffs.
In case of bad weather, the match can also begin two hours after the scheduled start time of 7:30 PM (IST) according to the IPL statement released on May 20.
However, if Qualifier 2 is washed-out then Punjab Kings will qualify for the final. According to the rules, the team with a higher finish in the points table will go through in case of a No Result.
