IPL 2025: Bowlers hold nerves in death overs, as MI eliminates Gujarat Titans from final's race

Mumbai Indians defeated Gujarat Titans by 20 runs in the high-scoring eliminator of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025). It was a must-win and do-or-die game for both teams to keep their hopes alive in contention for qualification to the tournament’s final. MI skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bat first in New Chandigarh, where the Punjab Kings collapsed in the first innings just a day ago in the first qualifier.

The decision initially looked to be quite risky, but the MI batters managed to put in their all efforts to prove their skipper’s decision right.

Batting first, the Mumbai Indians posted a big total of 228 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. The veteran opening pair of former skipper Rohit Sharma and England star Jonny Bairstow provided a swashbuckling start of 84 runs for the first wicket in just 7.2 overs, before Bairstow fell off Sai Kishore, after scoring 47 runs off just 22 balls, with four fours and three sixes on his MI debut.

Following Bairstow, Rohit continued smashing GT bowlers and ended up playing a blistering knock of 81 runs off just 50 balls, with nine fours and four sixes. Suryakumar Yadav also scored a quick 33 runs off just 20 balls, with one four and three sixes, followed by Tilak Varma's 25 runs off just 11 balls, with three sixes. Later in the innings, skipper Hardik Pandya also added crucial 22 runs off just 9 balls, with three sixes.

R Sai Kishore and Prasidh Krishna scalped 2 wickets each for GT in the first innings, alongside a wicket bagged by Mohammed Siraj.

MI get last laugh after GT’s early success in second half

While chasing the target, GT faced an early blow in the first over of the innings, losing skipper Shubman Gill at the team’s score of just 3 runs in 0.4 overs. After Gill’s dismissal, his opening partner, Sai Sudharsan and number three batter Kusal Mendis stitched a crucial 64-run partnership for the second wicket, before Mendis got dismissed after 20 runs off just 10 balls, with one four and two sixes.

Furthermore, Sai Sudharsan also stitched an impactful partnership of 84 runs for the third wicket with star all-rounder Washington Sundar (48 runs off just 24 balls, with five fours and three sixes). Following Sundar, just after 19 more runs were added to the team’s score, Sudharsan fell prey to Richard Gleeson after playing an impressive knock of 80 runs off just 49 balls, with 10 fours and a six. However, Sudharsan’s knock went in vain as GT failed to cross the line.

MI bowlers completely dominated the GT batters in the death overs and eventually won the game by runs to secure a spot in the second qualifier. The Titans managed to score 208 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the entire 20 overs. Trent Boult scalped 2 wickets for MI in the second innings, alongside a wicket each picked by Jasprit Bumrah, Richard Gleeson, Mitchell Santner, and Ashwani Kumar. With this win, MI’s hopes for the final are still alive.

Now, the Mumbai Indians will face the first qualifier’s losing side, the Punjab Kings, in the second qualifier on Sunday, June 1, at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The winning side of the second qualifier will take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the tournament’s final, who qualified directly with a huge 8-wicket win against PBKS in the first qualifier.

Also Read: WATCH: Jonny Bairstow's blistering MI debut ends up with a juggled catch against GT in eliminator