Mumbai Indians kept their Indian Premier League (IPL) title hopes alive after beating Gujarat Titans by 20 runs in Eliminator 2 in Mullanpur on Friday. With this win, Mumbai Indians qualified for Qualifier 2 where they will face Punjab Kings for a place in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The Qualifier 2 will be played on June 1, followed by the summit clash two days later.
Batting first, Mumbai Indians went off to a flyer with a 84-run stand between Rohit Sharma and debutant Jonny Bairstow (47) for the opening wicket before the Englishman was dismissed, thanks to a combined effort from Sai Sudharsan and Gerald Coetzee on the field.
Despite Bairstow’s dismissal, Rohit, who got reprieve twice, continued in his own vein to bring up his third fifty in IPL playoffs. He was finally dismissed for 81 off 50 balls, laced with nine fours and four sixes. Suryakumar Yadav (33), Tilak Varma (25) and Hardik Pandya (22 not out) also contributed as Mumbai Indians posted 228/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, Gujarat Titans were very much in the chase until Sudharsan (80) and Washington Sundar (48) were in the middle. But once they were out, the scoreboard pressure mounted on the batters as Gujarat Titans finished at 208/6 in 20 overs to take a exit route.
Dropped catches cost Gujarat Titans
After the game, Gujarat Titans captain admitted dropping three catches cost them the game. “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 after the game.
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