For the first time in 11 years, Punjab Kings not only reached the playoffs but also confirmed a top-two finish. On Monday, Priyansh Arya’s remarkable maturity and Josh Inglis’ fiery fifty saw Punjab down Mumbai Indians by seven wickets to seal a spot in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2025.
During the match, one particular instance sparked a buzz on social media. Midway through the opening innings of the match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Mumbai owner Akash Ambani drew Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer’s attention, and the visuals instantly went viral across platforms.
The incident happened in the 18th over of the first innings when Suryakumar Yadav was en route to his fifth half-century in the season. Ambani was spotted talking with Iyer, who bent over the advertisement board to keep the conversation going. However, while the details of the chat were unavailable, social media put on their creative hats to post hilarious captions about the viral images.
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Punjab Kings seal top-two spot
Both PBKS and MI had already sealed their playoff qualification heading into the contest in Jaipur. However, the winner made the match important by securing a top-two spot in the standings, which offers two opportunities to qualify for the final.
Punjab did not make a promising start in the powerplay in their chase of 185, but Inglis (73 off 42 balls) and Arya (62 off 35) more than made up for the sluggish start as their match-winning 109-run partnership off just 59 balls helped Punjab get home with nine balls to spare.
Punjab Kings, who have made the playoffs for the first time since 2014, will now travel back to their home ground in Mullanpur for Qualifier 1, scheduled for May 29. Mumbai will also travel to Chandigarh, where they will play in the Eliminator on May 30. The organizers will inform both teams of their opponents at the end of the final league game on Tuesday, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru will meet the already-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants.
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