MI Eliminate Titans, to Face Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2

Rohit's masterclass, with assistance from Bairstow and SKY, led MI to a 20-run victory

- Shalini Gupta

MULLANPUR: For the second time in the current IPL edition, Sai Sudharsan's second innings effort threatened to trump a first innings masterclass. But unlike what happened against Delhi Capitals where Sudharsan's ton had overpowered KL Rahul's century, his 49-ball 80 (10X4, 1X6) in Mullanpur came up short against Rohit Sharma's 50-ball 81 (9X4, 4X6) as Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Titans by 20 runs on Friday.

Chasing MI's 228/5 on a track that offered little to no sideways movement, Sudharsan brought his full range of delectable strokeplay, but in the end, MI's total proved too much. GT lost skipper Shubman Gill on the fourth ball of their chase but Sudharsan, currently the leading scorer of the league, stitched a 64-run alliance for the second wicket with Kusal Mendis off just 34 balls to put GT on course.

Mendis' dismissal in the seventh over meant Sudharsan was joined in the middle by his Tamil Nadu teammate Washington Sundar and the duo produced a vital 84-run partnership. Sundar played his part with an explosive 24-ball 48 (5X4, 3X6) but once Sudharsan fell in the 16th over to Richard Gleeson, the ask was a bit too much for Impact Player Sherfane Rutherford and Rahul Tewatia.