Skipper Shreyas slams 87*, PBKS in first final since '14

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer smashed a 41-ball 87* to end his team's 11-year wait to enter the IPL final on Sunday.

- Rasesh Mandani

AHMEDABAD: Five-time champions Mumbai Indians posted 203/6 in a rain-delayed Qualifier 2. But in-form Shreyas played a well-paced knock to seal victory with five wickets in hand and an over to spare. They will face RCB in the final on June 3.

The Narendra Modi stadium was more than half full, still comfortably more filled than any other stadium in the country. While it drizzled on Sunday evening, sometimes poured, stopped, only to reappear again, the Ahmedabad crowd was happy to keep themselves entertained, swaying to the Hindi numbers from the stadium sound system.

While the playing conditions may not have changed with no reduced overs, the pitch, under covers for two hours, was damp. Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow were wise to acknowledge that and were circumspect for the first eight balls. That's until Bairstow picked Kyle Jamieson over the square leg boundary for his first six.