Inglis lights way as Punjab power to top-two IPL place

Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings have secured a top-two spot in the Indian Premier League playoffs, and the Australian coach would be forgiven for conveying a large vote of thanks to compatriot Josh Inglis.

Punjab have yet to taste ultimate IPL glories, and there are still two huge steps to take but the Australian pair could be about to deliver something special.

Inglis, Yorkshire-born but every bit an Australian hero after his achievements in securing that famous victory over England in the Champions Trophy earlier this year, smashed 73 as five-time winners Mumbai Indians were humbled by seven wickets on Monday.

Ably assisted by Priyansh Arya, who made 62, wicketkeeper-batter Inglis demolished the Mumbai bowling as Punjab cruised to 3-187 in reply to Mumbai’s below-par 7-184.

Inglis’s contribution was hailed by Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer, who was Ponting’s record-breaking capture at last winter’s player auction.

Iyer said: “Obviously, he’s a big match player and we saw that today. So, yeah, fantastic attitude and I hope that he keeps continuing with the same.”

Punjab will play qualifier 1 - against Royal Challengers Bengaluru or Gujarat Titans - on Thursday with the winner going directly to the June 3 final. Mumbai, meanwhile, will play eliminator 1 on Friday, also against one of the same pair.

Gujarat are second in the table but could be overtaken by Bengaluru if they beat the already-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday, when the play-off picture will become clear.

Ponting was quick to praise his players but also injected a cautionary note. “I think it’s pretty obvious to see that this is a really talented team that are all on the same page and heading in the same direction,” he said.

“It’s a great achievement till now but really, if you look back, we haven’t achieved anything yet. That’s the one thing I’ve been saying to the players since the moment we qualified.”

Arya and Inglis, enjoying his first season in the IPL, combined for 109 runs off just 59 balls after Prabhsimran Singh was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah inside the batting powerplay.

Arya hit Trent Boult for three boundaries off the first four balls he faced from the New Zealander. Arya raised his half-century from 27 balls when he hit Hardik Pandya for six over wide long-on and bashed Jasprit Bumrah for a six over fine leg.

Inglis shrugged off the spin threat of Mitchell Santner, whose first two overs went for 23, while impact player Ashwani Kumar was dropped from the attack after being hammered for 16, in his only over.

Santner finished with 2-41 when he had Arya caught at long-off in the 15th over, and Inglis was out lbw when he missed a paddle shot against the left-arm spinner in the 18th over with Punjab just 14 runs from victory. They won with nine balls to spare.

Suryakumar Yadav’s 57, his 14th successive score of 25-plus in T20s, was the cornerstone of Mumbai’s total.

Ryan Rickelton, playing in his last IPL game before joining South Africa for the World Test Championship final against Australia in London next month, lashed a 20-ball 27, while Rohit Sharma struggled to 24 when he holed out to long-on against left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar.

With AP