Punjab Kings defeated the Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Sunday night, securing a summit matchup with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the IPL’s first new champion since 2016. The IPL has never been won by either team. On Tuesday, June 3, the IPL final will take place in Ahmedabad as well.
After finishing second to the Deccan Chargers in 2009, the Chennai Super Kings in 2011, and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, RCB will be participating in their fourth IPL final.
Only once, in 2014, when they were still known as Kings XI Punjab, did PBKS make it to the IPL final before losing to the Kolkata Knight Riders. Additionally, since the idea was first proposed in 2011, PBKS had only qualified for the playoffs once, in the 2014 season. The only player in IPL history to lead three different teams to the finals is their skipper, Shreyas Iyer, who captained the Delhi Capitals in the 2020 final and guided KKR to the 2024 championship.
In 14 games, PBKS and RCB finished first and second in the league stage, respectively, with nine victories, four losses, and one draw. Additionally, there was not much of a difference between their net run rates. RCB won the rematch in Mullanpur, while PBKS had defeated them in Bengaluru.
On May 29, they played in Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur, where RCB defeated PBKS for 101 and won with ten overs remaining to secure their spot in the first round. To advance to the final, PBKS had to go to Ahmedabad to play MI in Qualifier 2, and they defeated them for the second time in a week.
