IPL 2025: Rohit Sharma, Bumrah Star As Mumbai Indians Eliminate Gujarat Titans, Set Up Qualifier 2 Clash With Punjab

May 30, Mullanpur: Rohit Sharma's vintage 81 off 50 balls, backed by a fiery opening stand with Jonny Bairstow and a composed bowling effort led by Jasprit Bumrah, propelled Mumbai Indians to a 20-run win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2025 Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Friday (May 30).

The five-time champions posted a massive 228/5, the highest IPL score at this venue, and then successfully defended it as Gujarat Titans could only muster 208/6 in their 20 overs, despite a valiant 80 from Orange Cap holder Sai Sudharsan.

IPL 2025 Rohit Sharma Bumrah Star As Mumbai Indians Eliminate Gujarat Titans Set Up Qualifier 2 Clash With Punjab

The victory sets up a Qualifier 2 clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings on June 1 in Ahmedabad, with the winner earning a ticket to the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on June 3.

Rohit's Redemption and Mumbai's Batting Blitz

Winning the toss and batting first, Mumbai Indians were off to a blistering start courtesy of Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow, who stitched an 84-run stand in the powerplay. Bairstow, on his MI debut, clobbered Prasidh Krishna for three sixes in one over and raced to 47 off just 22 balls before falling to a sensational fielding effort initiated by Sai Sudharsan and finished by Coetzee.

Rohit, dropped twice early in his innings (on 3 and 12), made GT pay dearly with his fluent knock, decorated with 9 fours and 4 sixes. He brought up his 47th IPL fifty in 28 balls and formed two more key partnerships - 59 runs with Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 20) and 30 with Tilak Varma (25 off 13).

Despite losing wickets at regular intervals towards the end, Mumbai maintained the momentum, as skipper Hardik Pandya and others powered them past the 200-run mark. Prasidh Krishna (2/56) was expensive for GT, while Sai Kishore picked up 2/40.

Sai Sudharsan Shines But GT Fall Short

Chasing 229, Gujarat's innings began on a sour note with skipper Shubman Gill falling for just 1 in the first over to Trent Boult. The in-form Sai Sudharsan, however, kept GT alive with a classy 80 off 49 balls, which included 10 boundaries and a six.

He first added 64 runs with Kusal Mendis (20 off 10), who was dismissed hit-wicket, and then a crucial 84-run partnership with Washington Sundar (48 off 24), who flexed his muscles with big hits off Boult. But the tide turned in MI's favour when Bumrah cleaned up Sundar with a yorker in the 14th over.

Sudharsan's resistance finally ended when debutant Richard Gleeson knocked him over with a clever full toss in the 16th over. Sherfane Rutherford (24 off 15) and Rahul Tewatia tried to push the chase deep, but Bumrah's economical final over (1/27 in 4 overs) and tight bowling from Ashwini Kumar and Gleeson sealed it for MI.

While reflecting on his team's performance, the losing captain Gill blamed the dropped catches and rued the last few overs which didn't go their way. "Brilliant game of cricket, we were right in it. The last three-four overs didn't go our way but still a good game. Definitely not easy when we drop 3 sitters. Wasn't easy for the bowlers to control and doesn't help when you drop 3 catches," Gill said at the post-match presentation.