Mumbai Indians (MI) outclassed Gujarat Titans (GT) in a high-scoring IPL 2025 Eliminator by 20 runs at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur on Friday (May 30).
Opting to bat first, the five-time champions posted an imposing 228/5 on the board. Rohit Sharma capitalised on early chances to play a pivotal knock of 81 from 50 balls, while his opening partner Jonny Bairstow (47 off 22) made an instant impact on debut for the franchise.
Defending the total, MI restricted GT to 208/6 in 20 overs. Jasprit Bumrah was the stand-out bowler, returning with the figures of 1 for 27 in his four overs.
After the game, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made an interesting observation about MI's lucky reprieves in the knockout fixture.
The spinner shared his own experience of facing MI during a 2018 match to illustrate his point.
“Prasidh Krishna was after the Purple Cap. The way he was bowling today, he would've gone to another level in the Eliminator. He was clocking 150kph. There was one over where Jonny Bairstow smashed him for 26 runs, but in that over, he tried to get his wicket in 2-3 balls. It was an incisive over, but he couldn't get the wicket. And after that, the game went for the worse,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
"He dropped a catch. Then, Kusal Mendis dropped a catch off Siraj's bowling. Then, Rohit was unstoppable. It looked like a hand of god was with Rohit Sharma. He had the luck but he capitalised on the chances.
“I've seen one thing against Mumbai Indians, every time. In 2018, I was leading Punjab against MI. They were 80-odd for five wickets in 13 overs. They weren't anywhere in the game. Suddenly, the floodlights lost current and we had a 20-minute break. And when the game resumed, Kieron Pollard went ballistic and they went to smash around 180-200 runs,” he added.
Ashwin claimed that MI "always get lucky.” “Of course, you earn your luck. But MI always get lucky. We have to find out how they're getting so lucky,” he remarked.
With this victory, the Hardik Pandya-led side set up a Qualifier 2 clash against Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad on June 1. The winner will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2025 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on June 3.
