The IPL will have a new champion for the first time since 2016 after Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Sunday night to set up a summit clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Neither team has won the IPL before.
The IPL final will play today in Ahmedabad. Sri Lankan paceman Nuwan Thushara is among the RCB squad and he will fight to enter the final eleven.
RCB will be playing an IPL final for the fourth time, having finished runners-up in 2009, 2011 and 2016 to Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively.
PBKS have been in IPL final only once before, in 2014, when they were known as Kings XI Punjab and lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.
The 2014 season was also the only time that PBKS had made the playoffs since the concept was introduced in 2011.
Their captain Shreyas Iyer is the first IPL player to lead three different teams to the finals.
He was the captain of Delhi Capitals in the 2020 final and led KKR to the title in 2024.
PBKS and RCB had finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the league stage, with nine wins, four defeats and one no-result each in 14 games.
There was very little difference between their net run rates too.
PBKS had beaten RCB in Bengaluru, RCB won the reverse fixture in Mullanpur.
They met in Qualifier 1 on May 29 in Mullanpur, where RCB dismissed PBKS for 101 and won with ten overs to spare to book their place in the final first.
PBKS had to travel to Ahmedabad to play MI in Qualifier 2, and they beat them for the second time in the span of a week to qualify for the final.
RCB surely have the upper hand for the final match as they have more time to plan and recover for the crucial clash, having not played a match since May 29.
It has been an eventful and thrilling season for IPL which saw many records being broken this year.
While RCB booked their place in the final by beating Punjab Kings in the Qualifier 1 convincingly in Mullanpur, it was a tough road for PBKS who had to play an extra game against 5-time champions MI in order to book their spot in the final.
For Punjab, it will be their ability to shrug off the memories of the Qualifier 1 defeat against their final opponents that will help them in overcoming a team that has been on top of their game for most of the tournament.
(Agencies)
