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IPL 2025: Mumbai Indians eliminate Gujarat Titans to set up Qualifier 2 with Punjab Kings
Strip away everything else, and you can more often than not reduce T20 contests to a simple count-off: who hit more sixes? Mumbai Indians (MI) hit 17 in the IPL 2025 Eliminator, and Gujarat Titans (GT) hit eight.
Rohit Sharma top-scored for MI with 81 off 50 balls, B Sai Sudarshan top-scored for GT with 80 off 49. The difference lay in MI’s hitting depth. Five of their batters cleared the boundary at least three times each.
This hitting depth took MI to the second-highest total in any IPL playoff game, and ensured that GT’s target always remained just out of reach, even though their chase, advantaged by dew, remained alive almost until the end.
And there was one other difference between MI and GT, a difference MI can call on against every other team in the tournament: Jasprit Bumrah. His raw figures were impressive enough – 1 for 27 in four overs – and he also produced the moment of the match, a pinpoint leg-stump yorker to bowl Washington Sundar between his legs, and end an 84-run fourth-wicket stand with Sai Sudharsan.
Bumrah followed up with an 18th over that went for just nine runs – despite containing a six – and that left GT with 36 to get off the last 12 balls. It became 24 off six after Trent Boult’s 19th over, and while it was possible – especially with Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan at the crease – it’s an equation that usually favours the bowling team.
MI’s total was built on the back of a blazing start from their new opening pair. Jonny Bairstow, replacing Ryan Rickelton who has left on international duty, smashed a 22-ball 47 on his debut for his third IPL team. Rohit, meanwhile, made his fourth fifty and highest score of the season.
MI chose to bat a day after Punjab Kings, sent in, had been bowled out for 101 at the same venue. This was a different pitch, however, with even bounce and none of the seam movement of Qualifier 1.
Even so, GT could have had MI in trouble early, only for Gerald Coetzee and Kusal Mendis – the latter making his IPL debut – to put Rohit down on 3 and 12. Within minutes, GT were firmly on the back foot, with Bairstow tonking Prasidh Krishna for 26 runs – though two of his boundaries came off the edge – in the fourth over.
Bairstow fell in the eighth over, but MI kept punching. Rohit’s use of the sweep against GT’s spinners was particularly noteworthy, bringing him 27 runs – the most he’s scored with variants of the sweep against spin in any IPL innings for which shot data is available – off just six balls.
He slowed down after reaching his half-century, only scoring 31 off his last 22 balls. Here was another parallel with Sai Sudharsan’s innings: he scored 28 off his last 21. And just like Sai Sudharsan and Washington, Rohit and Bairstow put on 84 off 44 balls.
The most ominous thing about MI’s innings was the steadily rising frequency of their six-hitting. Even though Bairstow and Suryakumar Yadav – who made his 15th successive 25-plus score in T20s – were out by then, they cleared the rope nine times in the last six overs, with Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir doing their bit before Hardik Pandya finished with three maximums off Coetze in a 22-run final over.
If GT could have done anything differently with the ball, it could have been to use the slower ball more often. Prasidh and Mohammed Siraj dismissed Rohit and Tilak in the 17th and 18th overs with skillful use of this weapon, but GT probably turned to it a little too late, and didn’t use it often enough even then.
By the time dew set in during the chase, this option was taken out of MI’s toolkit, leaving them to put their trust in on-pace yorkers and the odd hard-length ball.
GT lost Shubman Gill early, with Trent Boult striking in typical fashion – angling the ball across the right-hand batter and bending it back to trap him lbw – to pick up his 32nd first-over wicket in the IPL. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is some way behind in second place with 27.
Then Bumrah bowled a four-run first over of swing and searing pace, leaving GT 9 for 1 after two. But they quickly found their voice, with Mendis putting a shocker behind the stumps – apart from the early Rohit spill, he also dropped Suryakumar in the 12th over – behind him with a pair of big leg-side sixes off Boult in the third over, and Sai Sudharsan finding the gaps with impressive frequency while rushing past 700 – and then 750 – runs for the season.
Mendis was looking ominous on 20 off nine balls when he fell in unfortunate fashion, his back foot slipping backwards when he stepped deep in his crease to pull Mitchell Santner in the seventh over, and trampling the stumps. It portended good things for GT in a way, though, since it was an early sign of dew.
The ball certainly came onto the bat beautifully as the Sai Sudharsan-Washington partnership surged. Washington took a little while to get going – he was on 11 off nine initially – but quickly found his boundary-hitting range and began to dominate the stand. When he hit Boult for two sixes and a four in the 13th over, he was on 47 off 22, and GT needed 81 off 42.
It was at this point that Bumrah re-entered the game. The fourth ball of his third over was a candidate for the ball of IPL 2025, swerving late, homing into the base of leg stump, and Washington’s front leg opening up to try and create space for his bat to access the ball only created a channel for the ball to burst through.
It wasn’t over yet, but with Sai Sudharsan falling to Richard Gleeson – another MI debutant – in the 16th over as GT chased a boundary almost every ball, MI’s grip tightened. And with all the dew about, their execution of yorkers – they usually didn’t miss by much even when they did miss – was exemplary. Bumrah and Boult were excellent, and Gleeson bowled three hard-to-hit balls in the 20th to close it out mathematically before trudging off with a hamstring issue, but Impact sub Ashwani Kumar was just as good. The left-armer eventually had the responsibility of bowling the last three balls, and finished with 1 for 28 in 3.3 overs.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 228 for 5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 81, Jonny Bairstow 47, Suryakumar Yadav 33, Tilak Varma 25,Hardik Pandya 22*; Mohammed Siraj 1-37, Sai Kishore 2-42, Prasidh Krishna 2-53) beat Gujarat Titans 208 for 6 in 20 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 80,Kusal Mendis 20, Washington Sundar 48, Sherfane Rutherford 24, Rahul Tewatia 16*, M Shahrukh Khan 13; Trent Boult 2-56, Jasprit Bumrah 1-27, Richard Gleeson 1-39, Mitchell Santner 1-10, Ashwani Kumar 1-28)by 20 runs
[Cricinfo]
Kusal Mendis and Binura Fernando have been ruled out of Sri Lanka’s upcoming T20I series against England, with the SLC saying that the two were “still undergoing rehabilitation” after injuries picked up at the 2026 Lanka Premier League.
The update came just over a day after the two were named in the 16-member squad, with Kusal retained as captain of both the T20I and the ODI sides.Charith Asalanka, who had returned to the vice-captain’s position for the series, will now lead the side in the T20Is. Though Kusal hasn’t been ruled out of the ODIs just yet, were he to miss out, Asalanka, as the designated vice-captain, might step in there too.
Kusal has been out of action since July 19 with a right hamstring injury, while Binura hasn’t played since August 5, SLC putting his absence down to a back injury.
Pavan Rathnayake, the 24-year-old top-order batter, has replaced Kusal in the T20I touring party, while Dilshan Madushanka, the fast bowler who was in the squad for the Tests against India recently but didn’t get to play, has come in for Binura.
(Cricinfo)
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa has been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Namal Rajapaksa had been summoned by CIABOC to provide a statement in connection with investigations into the controversial Airbus deal. He was subsequently arrested by CIABOC after recording his statement for over 5 hours.
Smriti Mandhana filled her batting coffers with her second T20I century, along the way surpassing Mithali Raj for the record for most runs in women’s internationals, to help India secure a second straight win on Thursday night in Dubai.
Hong Kong’s nerves showed on the field when they fell flat at the first sign of attack from India’s batters, and their timid approach in the chase further exposed the gulf in quality and experience. In the end, they lost by 137 runs – 13 more than what Mandhana managed on her own.
A second straight loss meant Hong Kong will only have some pride to play for, as a berth in the next round is now out of the equation.
India’s cautious start
At the end of five overs, India were 38 without loss – not concerning, but not dominating enough either. They took a while to suss up the lack of pace from the bowlers. Mandhana hogged much of the strike; Shafali Verma faced just six balls in the first five overs. Hong Kong couldn’t have been happier at having kept a lid on the scoring.
Shafali steps up
After a tight first over that went for just seven, offspinner Maria Lamplough was clobbered by Shafali for two fours and two sixes in a 22-run over that helped India take off.
Lamplough struggled for consistency and kept looping the ball up, with Shafali needing no second invitation. The first of the two sixes was a shovel over deep midwicket; the next even better – lofted inside-out over deep extra cover.
Shafali’s brief surge ended on 28 in the eighth over, when Marina took an excellent catch running in and diving full stretch from long-on off Ruchita Venkatesh’s bowling. By then, the openers had put on 74.
Mandhana prances towards record century
As new No. 3 Pratika Rawal took a while to gauge the pace of the surface, Mandhana reached her half-century – her 36th in T20Is – off 40 deliveries with a flat six over deep square. Mandhana’s default setting for much of this period was moving over to the off-side to set herself up for several variations of the slog in the arc between wide long-on and deep square.
Her next fifty came off just 18 deliveries. The century could’ve been nipped in the bud had she been taken at deep square leg in the 16th over off Siu Wai, but she accelerated even more soon after bringing up her century that helped her climb atop the list for most international hundreds in women’s cricket.
In the 18th over, she clobbered Venkatesh for three consecutive sixes, and in the same over also went past Mithali’s record for most international runs. This helped India finish strongly, the second half of their innings brought them 107 despite losing a clutch of wickets.
Nandani’s dream run continues
Coming off a three-for against Thailand, Nandani Sharma’s seam presentation and control was immaculate with the new ball as Hong Kong crawled to 4 for 1 in four overs. The wicket, off Mariko Hill, one of their most experienced batters, came off a superb in-ducker on the back of three successive away-swingers. Nandani added one more wicket to her kitty to finish with 2 for 6 off her three overs.
The collapse
The highest partnership of the innings was the 27 between Yasmin Daswani and Natasha Miles for the second wicket; a period where they hardly threw any caution to the wind, choosing instead to bat overs and gain some match time against an opponent they were playing for the first time in 14 years.
The partnership ended when Daswani’s attempt to heave into the leg side was intercepted by a leaping Bharti Fulmali at midwicket to give Deepti Sharma a wicket. Six balls later, Miles was out attempting to cut Prema Rawat’s sharp leg break, nicking behind to Richa Ghosh.
That was the start of the collapse, as India’s spinners closed in, each one getting onto the scorecard with a bagful. There were eight single-digit scores, with 15 the highest. They lost their last five wickets in 11 deliveries, collapsing from 54 for 5 to 56 all out.
India couldn’t have asked for an easier route into the semi-finals.
Scores:
India Women 193 for 5 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 124, Shafali Verma 28, Pratika Rawal 10, Richa Gosh 11, Harmanpreet Kaur 10; Marina Lamplough 2-46, Ruchitha Venkatesh 1-30, Joyleen Kaur 1-12) beat Hong Kong Women 56 in 16.2 overs (Natasha Miles 15, Yasmin Daswani 11, Marina Lamplough 14; Nandani Sharma 2-06, Shree Charani 2-16, Deepti Sharma 3-09, Prema Rawat 2-12) by 137 runs
[Cricinfo]
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