Brief Scores: Gujarat Lions 153/9 (Ishan Kishan 48, Ravindra Jadeja 28; Krunal Pandya 3/14, Jasprit Bumrah 2/32) lost to Mumbai Indians 153/10 (Parthiv Patel 70, Krunal Pandya 29; Basil Thampi 3/29, James Faulkner 2/34 ) in the super over.
Winning the toss Suresh Raina opted to bat first and handed Irfan Pathan a debut with the Gujarat Lions - Irfan’s sixth team in the IPL - in place of the injured Nathu Singh. Mumbai brought back Lasith Malinga and Krunal Pandya in the aftermath of the Pune defeat to replace Mitchell Johnson and Karn Sharma.
Ishan Kishan plays lone warrior as Gujarat top-order crumbles
After his impressive performance, as an opener, against Bangalore, Ishan Kishan retained his spot at the top of the order and made a quick start to the game smashing Mitchell McClenaghan for a boundary in the first over. The 18-year-old followed that up with a huge six of Malinga before McCullum joined the action with a boundary off his own. Even though the Kiwi fell on the very next ball, Kishan kept the momentum going taking 24 runs off the next two overs. Mumbai, though, as they have done throughout this tournament, fought back with the wickets of Raina and Finch to restrict the home side to 48/3 in the powerplay. With the top order crumbling, Kishan and Dinesh Karthik started building a partnership but the latter got impatient and some good work behind the stumps by Parthiv Patel sent him back with Gujarat reeling at 70/4 at the midway point.
Sensing Gujarat were there for the taking, Rohit Sharma brought back Malinga into the attack but it proved to be an incorrect call by the Mumbai skipper as Ravindra Jadeja took 13 runs of the Sri Lankan. However, on the first ball of the next over, Kishan’s masterful knock was brought to an end by some crafty bowling by Harbhajan Singh, who on seeing the youngster come out of his crease bowled wider and Kishan could only lift the ball into the hands of Kieron Pollard at long off. Over the next four overs, Gujarat lost Jadeja and Pathan as well and could only add 18 runs to the score. With three overs to go, it appeared like Gujarat were headed for an early bowling display but Andrew Tye and James Faulkner made sure they led their side to a respectable total. It was Faulkner who got the show started with a boundary of McClenaghan before Tye hit the Kiwi over the ropes on back to back deliveries. In the next over, Bumrah dismissed the Aussie duo but by then he had already conceded an additional 15 runs. With McClenaghan going for another 9 in the last over, Gujarat had managed to give the scoreboard a look of competitiveness, setting Mumbai a target of 154.
Parthiv turns on the style at “home”
Defending a modest target, Gujarat needed to get off to a good start but Parthiv Patel they did anything but that. Out of the 40 that Mumbai put on the board in the first three overs, Parthiv Patel scored 32 off just 14 balls. With their backs against the wall, Gujarat were left with no option but to introduce spin early and it worked like a charm - although not the way that they would have hoped. Off the last ball of Ankit Soni’s first over, James Faulkner’s dive not only saved a boundary but a direct hit, whilst aiming at just one stump, sent Jos Buttler packing. But the incoming Nitish Rana kept the runs coming, gilding Mumbai to 61/1 in the powerplay. The duo kept rotating the strike to keep the scoreboard ticking but on the fourth ball of the 10th over, Nitish Rana was adjudged LBW despite the replays suggested that the youngster got a glove on the ball before it hit the pad. Mumbai, however, found themselves in a comfortable position of 82/2 at the midway point.
Faulkner and co. earn Gujarat a super over
On the first ball of the 11th over, Gujarat were handed another blow as Andrew Tye had to go off the field after he hurt his shoulder while attempting to save a boundary. With the batsmen becoming used to the spinners, Gujarat had to bring in some pace to try something different. With Tye off the field, Raina threw the ball to Faulkner and it proved to be his best decision of the day. Not only did the Aussie get rid of Rohit Sharma but also ended Patel’s brilliant innings as well to bring the Lions roaring back into the game. Pollard and Krunal build a decent partnership of 18 runs but a rush of blood saw the former make his way back after gifting McCullum a simple catch at long on. Needing just 15 runs in two overs, the game looked over, but it was anything but done and dusted. Basil Thampi claimed two wickets in the first five balls to bring the home side back into the game. On the last ball of the penultimate over, Irfan Pathan saved a boundary on third man and his throw, which was dead accurate, put Mumbai eight down and left them needing 11 runs off the last over. Krunal Pandya smashed the first ball of the last over for a massive six but a last ball run out took the game into the first super over of IPL-10.
Mumbai sent Pollard and Buttler as their starters for the Super over. The latter squeezed in a single on the first Faulkner ball to give the big West Indian the strike. Pollard, who had scored just 15 in the match, hit the Aussie for 10 runs of the next two balls. However, Faulkner, who had been brilliant throughout the game, claimed two wickets in as many balls to restrict Mumbai to just 11 in the Super over.
Just when the fans thought that the action was over, Bumrah bowled a no-ball as his first delivery. The second legal delivery turned out to be a wide but the Indian “death over specialist” proved too good for Finch and McCullums as he only gave 3 runs in the remaining 4 balls.
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