Mumbai Indians defeated Gujarat Titans by 20 runs to progress to Qualifier 2 of the ongoing IPL 2025. The Hardik Pandya-led side had a poor start to the season, but things changed drastically in the middle phase when the team registered an unbeaten streak and marched to the top 4. They eventually qualified after a topsy-turvy end but against Gujarat in the Eliminator in Mullanpur, the five-time champions proved their mettle and got the job done in style.
Batting first, Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow took the game away from Gujarat’s hands. The England international replaced Ryan Rickelton in the playing X,I but it didn’t seem that the keeper-batter was playing his maiden IPL 2025 match. He smacked 47 runs off 22 balls and after he departed, Rohit took over. The India ODI captain made 81 runs off 50 balls and that set the tone for the remainder of the match.
Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya kept up with the momentum as Mumbai posted 228 runs on the board - the second-highest in IPL playoffs history. Gujarat had very little chance to get over the line but with the form Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan were in, one couldn’t bet against them.
However, Trent Boult sent Gill packing in the first over itself and it was expected to kill Gujarat’s spirit but Sudharsan had different plans. The youngster smacked 80 runs off 49 balls before Richard Gleeson got the better of him. Nevertheless, Sudharsan became the youngest cricketer to score over 600 runs in a season.
Washington Sundar supported him well with 48 runs off 24 balls but Mumbai eventually scripted a scintillating comeback. Once Hardik turned to Bumrah, things got difficult for Gujarat and there was no way back after Sudarsan departed.
Meanwhile, credit goes to MI captain Hardik Pandya for taking a brave call of batting first. Usually in T20 cricket, bowling first is the trend that every team follows but Pandya backed his bowlers and they won the game for the team in the end. Mumbai will next play Punjab Kings in the Qualifier 2 and the winner of the match will play the IPL 2025 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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