Punjab Kings Face Bumrah, Resurgent MI to Make Final

Iyer-led side will have their task cut out in Qualifier 2 against five-time champions who have experience

- Rasesh Mandani

MUMBAI: Punjab Kings have experienced a wave of emotions of peak performance and crushing lows, all in the span of a week. The high came when they rolled past Mumbai Indians in their last league match to finish on top of the points table. The result also pushed out five-time winners MI from the race to the top two and pushed them to fourth.

Shreyas Iyer's reds even had the advantage of playing Qualifier 1 on home turf in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. However, they couldn't hold their end of the bargain against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. On Sunday, PBKS, searching for their first title, find themselves facing a resurgent MI in Qualifier 2 at Ahmedabad.

Challenged to punish their bodies with plenty of travel — Jaipur-New Chandigarh-Ahmedabad — and limited time to rest and recoup, MI have responded well having eliminated Gujarat Titans on Friday. The star-studded MI have a chance to achieve something only SRH could manage in 2016 — win the trophy after being out of the top two since the qualifiers and eliminator were introduced. They may be jet-lagged, but there's no better elixir than winning.

The other thing about trophies is they are not won without clinching the big moments. PBKS saw it up close. The vitality of their uncapped talent fizzled out when faced with lively pitch conditions in Mullanpur, one of their home bases.