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The Punjab Kings (PBKS) became the first team in IPL 2025 to secure a place in the top two on the IPL points table. They did so with the comfortable seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. The win saw PBKS reach 19 points and move to the top of the standings, overtaking Gujarat Titans (GT). While on the other hand, MI finished at the fourth position with 16 points under their name.
RCB will face-off against LSG in the final league stage match of IPL 2025
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will finish in the top two if they emerge victorious over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Tuesday in what will be the final game of the ongoing season's league stage. The Bengaluru-based franchise is currently placed on the third spot with 17 points under their belt.
Analyzing the performances of the four teams that have qualified for the playoffs, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa backed PBKS and RCB to make it to the IPL 2025 final that is set to be played at the Narendra Modi stadium.
“You want momentum at the right point in the tournament and the right kind of impetus going into the play-offs. Punjab started the tournament exceptionally well, lost a bit of steam towards the back end of the league stage, but regained momentum just before the play-offs. Granted, they're losing a player or two to national duty, but even within the squad, the batting line-up looks really solid," Uthappa said on JioStar.
"For me, Arshdeep Singh hasn't quite fired yet, and that actually augurs well for Punjab. It means he's due for a big performance and will be raring to go in crucial games. I have a strong feeling the final is going to be between RCB and Punjab," he added.
Uthappa also showered praise on PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer's leadership skills following the victory over MI. The 30-year-old captained the Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in 2024, but was surprisingly released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction. Then, his services were acquired by PBKS for a huge fee of INR 26.75 crore and he has once again proved to be fantastic as a captain.
“Shreyas has always been an exceptional captain. You always sensed that he felt underappreciated at KKR despite adding value there. He moved to a franchise where not much had been achieved historically - and then went on to win it for them. That says a lot about his leadership and belief," Uthappa stated.
The first finalist of the ongoing season will be decided with a qualifying match between the top two teams on the points table and that game will be played on May 29. Then, the eliminator will take place the next day, May 30 between the third and the fourth placed team. Following this, the second finalist will be decided on June 1 with the clash between the loser of the qualifier and the winner of the eliminator. Finally, the penultimate match of the campaign will take place on June 3 in Ahmedabad.
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