Bairstow & Gleeson help Mumbai win IPL eliminator

New Chandigarh, the Indian Premier League

Mumbai Indians 228-5 (20 overs): Rohit 81 (50), Bairstow 47 (22)

Gujarat Titans 208-6 (20 overs): Sudharsan 80 (49)

Mumbai Indians won by 20 runs.

Mumbai Indians held on to defeat Gujarat Titans by 20 runs to maintain their high-scoring lead.

Mumbai, the five-time champion, piled up 228-5 with Rohit Sharma scoring 81 and Jonny Bairstow scoring 47 before putting an end to Gujarat’s run.

The Titans’ leading run-scorer, Sai Sudharsan, shared an 84-win stand with Washington Sundar, who also had a superb 80.

Before the game turned heads when Warwickshire seamer Richard Gleeson bowled Sudharsan in the 16th over, Washington was unbeaten by a Jasprit Bumrah yorker for 40.

Gleeson left the field cramped, leaving him with only three shots remaining after he had already conceded three in the final three. Like Bairstow, who had come in late for the play-offs, was forced to defend 24 from the final over.

Ashwani Kumar, the Titans’ left-armer, won the final 208-6.

Mumbai will face Punjab Kings on Saturday in the final game, which came in fourth place in the league phase and was the last to advance to the play-offs.

Yorkshire’s captain Bairstow signed for 5.25 crore Indian rupees (£458, 000) for the three matches, and he immediately struck four fours and three sixes.

After Bairstow was caught off spinner Sai Kishore at the backward point, he combined with India’s great Rohit for 84 in 44 balls.

After Jos Buttler returned to England for international duty, Gujarat was punished for dropping Suryakumar Yadav on 25 and Rohit on three and twelve.

In Mumbai’s final over of the innings, Suryakumar made 33, and Hardik Pandya added three crucial sixes to put an end to the score of 22 not out of eight balls.