Gujarat Titans couldn’t quite pull off the massive chase in the end.
They kept their hopes alive until the final over but couldn’t create any real excitement at the death. Mumbai Indians handled the pressure well and secured their spot in the IPL final.
In the eliminator match on Friday at Mullanpur, Mumbai posted 228 runs. Gujarat fought back, reaching 208, but ultimately fell short by 20 runs.
Subhman Gill’s side bowed out of the tournament, while Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai will face Punjab Kings in the second qualifier on Sunday.
Gujarat needed 36 runs off the last two overs. In the 19th, Trent Boult dismissed Sherfane Rutherford and conceded just 6 runs in the first five balls, though he did suffer a six on the last ball.
In the final over, with 24 needed, Gujarat scored only 3 runs off the first three balls before Richard Gleeson pulled out with a hamstring injury. Ashwini Kumar then took a wicket without giving away any runs in the last three balls.
Mumbai’s openers Rohit Sharma and Johnny Bairstow gave a flying start, and contributions from the next three batsmen helped build a big total.
Rohit played a brilliant innings, scoring 81 off 50 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes, becoming the first in IPL history to reach 7,000 runs and 300 sixes. Bairstow scored 47 off 22 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Suryakumar Yadav made 33 off 20, Tilak Varma 25, and Pandya 22 off 9 balls.
Chasing, Gill was dismissed in the first over, and Kusal Mendis couldn’t last long either.
The third-wicket partnership between Sai Sudarshan and Washington Sundar kept Gujarat’s hopes alive. Sudarshan scored a quick fifty off 28 balls, while Sundar made 48 off 24.
Jasprit Bumrah broke the dangerous 84-run stand by bowling Washington Sundar with a superb yorker in the 14th over. Gleeson got Sudarshan out the next over. Sudarshan finished with 80 off 49 balls, including 10 fours and 8 sixes.
This marked the end of Sudarshan’s excellent tournament — 759 runs at an average of 54.21 and strike rate of 156.17 across 15 innings.
After Sudarshan’s dismissal, Gujarat gradually slipped out of the contest. Despite their fight until the final over, they couldn’t get close enough to the target.
Bumrah was economical in the death overs too, taking 1 wicket for 27 runs in 4 overs.
Match Summary
- Mumbai Indians: 228/5 (Rohit 81, Bairstow 47, Suryakumar 33, Tilak 25, Pandya 22*; Siraj 4-0-37-1, Prasidh 4-0-53-2, Kishore 4-0-42-2, Rashid 4-0-31-0, Kutsia 3-0-51-0, Washington 1-0-7-0)
- Gujarat Titans: 208/6 (Sudarshan 80, Gill 1, Mendis 20, Washington 48, Rutherford 24, Tevatiya 16*, Shahrukh 13; Boult 4-0-56-2, Bumrah 4-0-27-1, Gleeson 3.3-0-39-1, Pandya 3-0-37-0, Santner 1-0-10-1, Naman 1-0-0-0, Ashwini 3.3-0-28-1)
- Result: Mumbai won by 20 runs
- Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma
