Rohit Sharma 81 sets up 229 chase for Gujarat Titans

Mumbai Indians have a 17-0 record while defending 200-plus totals in the IPL. They have set Gujarat Titans a target of 229 in the Eliminator, after posting the second-highest total in any IPL playoff game.

That total was built on the back of a blazing stand of 84 between a 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 Sharma, dropped twice in the first three overs of the match, went on to score 81 off 50 balls.

The middle order built on these efforts with panache, with Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya hitting three sixes each to ensure MI maintained their momentum right through the innings. They hit 17 sixes in all, the joint third-most in any innings in IPL 2025.

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.

GT, however, could have had MI in trouble early, only for Gerald Coetzee and Kusal Mendis 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, but the rest of MI's batters ensured there would be no let up in the scoring rate, and Hardik finished things off with three sixes off Coetzee in the final over.