Mumbai, April 16 (NationPress) The outstanding duo of Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer delivered impressive half-centuries in their second consecutive match, forming another vital partnership to lead the Punjab Kings to a convincing seven-wicket triumph over the Mumbai Indians in Match 24 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 held at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Both players had previously scored half-centuries against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and on Thursday, they showcased their prowess again, with Prabhsimran scoring a remarkable 80 not out from 39 balls and Iyer contributing 66 off 35. This enabled PBKS to chase down a target of 196, finishing at 198/3 in just 16.3 overs while restricting MI to 195/6, despite an outstanding century from Quinton de Kock (112*) and a half-century from Naman Dhir.

For Prabhsimran, this marked his second half-century of IPL 2026, while Iyer achieved his third consecutive half-century in the tournament. This particular innings held special significance for Iyer as it was played at his home ground against a team featuring three members of the T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad, for which he had not been selected.

Their impressive 139-run partnership for the third wicket secured the victory for PBKS with 21 balls remaining, marking their fourth win in five matches and maintaining their unbeaten streak. This victory propelled PBKS to the top of the points table with nine points, while the Mumbai Indians languished at two points from one win and four losses.

While chasing a challenging target of 196, the Punjab Kings faced an early setback with the loss of opener Priyansh Arya, who was dismissed after successfully navigating the first two overs bowled by Deepak Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah. The introduction of AM Ghazanfar, who substituted for Suryakumar Yadav as an impact player, provided MI with their first breakthrough as Arya played a leg stump delivery straight to Chahar at midwicket. Arya scored 15 runs off 9 balls (2x4, 1x6) with the team total at 27/1.

The situation worsened for PBKS as they found themselves at 45/2 when Cooper Connolly hit one four and two sixes in a brief innings before edging a delivery from Ghazanfar to Quinton de Kock.

However, Prabhsimran Singh and captain Shreyas Iyer came to the rescue, crafting a century partnership for the third wicket that put them on the path to victory. Prabhsimran was in sensational form, delivering a series of well-timed shots, and was fortunate when Jasprit Bumrah dropped a straightforward catch from Hardik Pandya.

Prabhsimran kicked off his innings with consecutive fours off Chahar in the opening over, followed by a six and another four in the eighth over. He continued to find boundaries against Hardik Pandya in the 10th over and connected for four and six in the 14th over. He also took Ghazanfar and Shardul Thakur to task, reaching his fifty in just 23 balls as PBKS advanced toward their target.

Building on their previous partnership against SRH, Prabhsimran and Iyer worked in tandem, with Iyer taking a spectacular catch to dismiss his counterpart. He played a supportive role initially before launching a series of brilliant shots towards the end of his innings, reaching his half-century in 31 balls, with five fours and two sixes.

With PBKS requiring 35 runs from 36 balls, Iyer struck Bumrah for a couple of boundaries and then hit Shardul Thakur for two successive sixes in the 16th over after being dropped by Naman Dhir earlier. Although Dhir and Shardul ultimately claimed Iyer's wicket, the match was effectively decided by that point. Iyer concluded his innings with 66 runs from 35 balls, including five fours and four sixes.

Prabhsimran led PBKS to victory, finishing with an unbeaten score of 80 off 39 balls, while Marcus Stoinis contributed a run of 10 as PBKS continued their unbeaten streak in five matches.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 195/6 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 112 not out, Naman Dhir 50; Arshdeep Singh 3-22) lost to Punjab Kings 198/3 in 16.3 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 80 not out, Shreyas Iyer 66; AM Ghazanfar 2-31) by seven wickets.