Mumbai Indians win this nailbiter! It was a roller coaster for both teams as the match went into a superover, that looked all but conquered for the Gujarat Lions before Jasprit Bumrah snatched it away from them. He started with a no-ball and a wide, but kept his cool to restrict to 6 runs off 6 balls, of the 12 needed. Earlier, Gujarat posted 153 in their allotted 20 overs, with Ishan Kisan top scoring with 48. Mumbai, in reply, seemed to be in a comfortable position with opener Parthiv Patel smashing a whirlwind 70 off 44 balls, before James Faulkner precipitated a collapse that left Mumbai gasping for air. It was Hardik Pandya that hit a six off in the last over, taking MI within hitting distance of the total. A single off the last ball tied the match, prompting the Super Over that Bumrah helped win with some excellent death bowling.
Ball 6, Bumrah to McCullum, 1 run, Bumrah has won it for the Mumbai Indians, kept his cool – despite a no-ball and a wide, this was full and wide of off, driven hard and straight to long-off, just a single
Ball 5, Bumrah to Finch, 1 run, high full toss from Bumrah, it’s not called as a no-ball though, Finch swung hard and mistimed it towards cover-point, just a single
Ball 4, 0 run, Bumrah to Finch, no run, another peach from Bumrah, slower delivery outside off, Finch made room for the swing and missed
Ball 3, Bumrah to McCullum, 1 bye, this is excellent bowling from Bumrah, slips in another slower delivery, McCullum was miles early into the slog and missed, they sneak in a bye
Ball 2, dot ball: Excellent ball from Bumrah, slower delivery outside off, McCullum made room for the slap and missed
Ball 2, wide: This is a wide, shocking start from Bumrah, attempts the slower ball and pushes it miles outside off. 9 required off 5 balls.
Ball 1, 1 leg bye: Nicely bowled by Bumtrah, full and omn Finc’s pads, he was shuffling across on the lap sweep and missed, sneaks in a leg bye
Ball 1: Bumrah to Finch, no ball – Can you believe it, Bumrahg bowled two no-balls during the match, he’s started with one now. Excellent yorker, followed Finch as he backed away on the drive, but he has overstepped
McCullum and Finch are the two openers, not sure who will bat at three. Might be Raina. Bumrah will look to defend 12 runs
So, Gujarat Lions need 12 runs to win the game.
Ball 5: Faulkner to Buttler, OUT! Full and wide outside off stump, Buttler tried to go big over the off-side, completely mistimed it, it went high in the air and the youngster did really well to catch the skier at point. caught by Ishan Kishan 1(2).
Rohit Sharma is the next man in.
Ball 4: Faulkner to Pollard, OUT, caught by Finch 10(3)
Ball 3: Faulkner to Pollard, SIX, all the way this time. This is predictable from Faulkner, goes for the slower ball, lands on a good length and Pollard sends it over the long-on boundary
Ball 2: Faulkner to Pollard, FOUR, that’s in the slot again from Faulkner, tried the slower ball again, the batsman lofted it high in the air, landed just inside the rope near wide long-off
Ball 1: Faulkner to Buttler, 1 run, length ball, change of pace, Buttler mistimes the slap to sweeper cover. The bowler bowled that from round the wicket
MI will bat first because they batted second in the preceding 20 over dash. Faulkner will be the bowler for GL. For MI: Buttler and Pollard will open. Both the teams nominate three batsmen and one bowler each. Six balls to outscore each other.
MI – 153/10, 20.0 overs; Game tied, Super Over on the cards
Irfan Pathan to Malinga, out Krunal Pandya Run Out!! Krunal Pandya run out (Jadeja) 29(20). Game is headed to a Super Over!
Sweeping changes in fielding positions being made.
Irfan Pathan to Krunal Pandya, 2 runs, to third man. 2 off 2 balls.Irfan Pathan to Krunal Pandya, 1 run, to mid off. Scores are tied! Malinga is on strike. 1 off 1 ball needed.
Irfan Pathan to Bumrah, out Bumrah Run Out!! Has Jadeja got Bumrah with a direct hit? Yes, the OUT in RED. Bumrah run out (Jadeja) 0(1). High Drama at the Saurashtra Stadium. Lasith Malinga will come out to bat. They have crossed, so Krunal is on strike.
Single. Puts Bumrah on strike. 4 off 4.
Irfan Pathan to Krunal Pandya, SIX, that should seal it! Krunal holds his nerve despite all the drama. 5 needed off 5 balls.
Irfan Pathan to bowl the all-important last over.
Basil Thampi to McClenaghan, out McClenaghan Run Out!! 1 run completed McClenaghan run out (Irfan Pathan) 1(1). Thampi is on fire! Jasprit Bumrah is the new batsman.
Mitchell McClenaghan, left handed bat, comes to the crease. It is all on Krunal.
Basil Thampi to Harbhajan, out Lbw!! Harbhajan lbw b Basil Thampi 0(1). This is not good for Mumbai Indians!
A dot and two runs. They had the good sense to cross before Hardik was caught out. This is going to be closer than we imagined.
Basil Thampi to Hardik Pandya, out Caught by Ishan Kishan!! Looks to go big on the on-side. Was it needed? He holes out at deep mid-wicket as Kishan gobbles that up. More twist in this gripping contest. That was full and the batsman tried to get undeneath it, but failed to scale substantial distance on it. Hardik Pandya c Ishan Kishan b Basil Thampi 4(5). Harbhajan Singh is on the crease.
Thampi to bowl the penultimate over.
Faulkner to Krunal Pandya, FOUR, to long on. GL are sorely missing Tye, who is out of the field. Nine off Faulkner’s over.
Faulkner is in to bowl the last over. Three singles and a double, the Pandya brothers are biding their time.
MI – 130/5, 17.0 overs; 24 Needed off 18 Balls
Three singles mean MI need 24 off the last 18 balls to win, with 5 wickets to spare. This is still very doable.
Basil Thampi to Pollard, out Caught by Brendon McCullum!! Clips the drive hard and finds the man at long-on. That was a needless hit. Pollard c Brendon McCullum b Basil Thampi 15(11). This may be too little, too late though. Hardik Pandya is walking in.
Basil Thampi into the attack, and FOUR! Length ball to Pollard sits up for the batsman to hack the pull away and loft it over mid-wicket. The man at long-on was light years away from that.
Singles abound, nine off the over. Mumbai are creeping up to the target, and it seems increasingly inevitable.
Faulkner to Krunal Pandya, FOUR, to long off. Moving the scoreboard along, Krunal.
Faulkner is back for a third.
Time out! A couple of quick wickets will definitely have unnerved them, but it remains to bute seen how much. They have Pollard and Krunal on the crease, and Hardik to follow. The match is still theirs to lose.
Basil Thampu is back into the attack, and his tight bowling seems to be taking us to a tight finish. 5 runs off the 15th over, all in singles. Mumbai batsmen are biding their time.
MI – 109/4, 14.0 overs; 45 needed off 36 balls
Five runs and two wickets off Faulkner’s over. Lions have a foot back in the match, perhaps.
Faulkner to Parthiv Patel, OUT! Caught by Karthik!! Parthiv Patel c Karthik b Faulkner 70(44). Wonderful knock coming to an end. This is a good comeback over by Faulkner. Krunal Pandya, left handed bat, comes in to bat.
FOUR! Pollard edges again, but different result this time. Carried just past keeper Karthick. Unlucky for the Gujarat Lions.
Rohit was looking somewhat clueless in his 5 off 13 balls. This is his sixth single digit score in this IPL.
Faulkner to Rohit, out Caught by Karthik!! A faint tickle off the outer edge and Karthik makes easy amends for the fluffed chance earlier. Rohit c Karthik b Faulkner 5(13). Kieron Pollard walks in.
James Faulkner is back into the attack. He went for plenty in his first over.
Fours off consecutive balls! Parthiv Patel’s show rolls on! 11 runs off this over.
Ravindra Jadeja has been introduced into the attack.
Three singles and three dots to end the last over. He finishes with figures of 1-16. Brilliant!
Ankit Soni is back in the attack for his last over. He has been stingy all evening.
MI – 90/2, 11.0 overs, Rana falls to Soni
Raina finishes with spell of 0-28.
Raina is here for the last over. FOUR! A rank full toss from Raina. Parthiv pummels the slog through mid-wicket. Tye at dep mid-wicket sprints to his right and puts in an awkward dive. The ball deflects off his body and runs away into the fence. Has he done his shoulder there? Hope nothing is serious. He goes off the field
Ankit Soni to Nitish Rana, out Lbw!! Nitish Rana isn’t happy as he walks off. Not sure about what – the decision or the selection of shot. It was tossed up delivery. Rana gets down and goes for the reverse sweep. He is struck in front of middle. Ah! The replays show that there was glove involved there. So, that was the reason behind his disappointment. Nitish Rana lbw b Ankit Soni 19(16). Rohit Sharma comes out to bat.
FOUR! Too much width and Rana punishes him. The back-spinner, Rana crouches and lifts it inside out over cover for a boundary. That’s Raina-esque
Ankit Soni is back in the attack.
Raina back for his third over, and he bowls a measured spell to give only four runs off the over.
MI – 72/1, 8.0 overs
Ankit Soni to Parthiv Patel, 1 run, a nudge towards backward square leg for a single with which Parthiv Patel brings up his fifty! Excellent knock by the Mumbai opener.
Two wides! This is some poor bowling by Soni. Takes all the pressure off the Mumbai batsmen.
Ankit Soni is back for his second over after the time out.
Only singles and doubles in this over, seven runs off it.
9 runs off Tye’s over. Raina back for his second over.
FOUR! Patel opens the face of his bat at the last minute, and the ball runs to the third man boundary.
Andrew Tye into the attack. He bowled wonderfully in the last match, and skipper Raina will look to him for a breakthrough.
MI – 52/1, 5.0 overs
Raina to Nitish Rana, SIX, this guy is a positive batsman. What a wonderful way to get off the mark. Sinks low on one knee. 9 off the over.
Skipper Raina is going to bowl.
Ankit Soni to Parthiv Patel, out Buttler Run Out!! Buttler run out (Faulkner) 9(7). Nitish Rana is on the crease.
Ankit Soni to Parthiv Patel, THAT’S OUT!! Run Out!!
Buttler is gone here! Direct hit and he is gone by a long way. The TV umpire called. OUT is the signal.
A measured first over by the leggie. lots of flight on the deliveries to keep Butler and Patel busy.
Ankit Soni, right arm leg break, is into the attack.
Another four! Patel smashes his old teammate to backward square leg. A whopping 16 runs off this over. This was Pathan’s first over of this IPL, and boy has he gone for some punishment!
A four and a six off the second and third ball! Parthiv Patel is on fire! Four was behind square, and six was on a short ball that sits up nicely for Parthiv to play the pull shot. He is a short man!
Irfan Pathan, left arm fast medium, is brought into the attack.
MI – 24/0, 2.0 overs
11 off Faulkner’s first over. This will seriously dent the confidence of Gujarat’s bowlers.
Faulkner to Parthiv Patel, FOUR, short and wide asking to be punished. Parthiv crashes the cut. They have made 20 of the 23 runs scored in boundaries!
FOUR! In the air and in the gap! On a good length that swings away a tad, Parthiv presses forward and shows the full face of his bat as he drives uppishly. Gets it between mid-off and extra cover. It is raining boundaries.
James Faulkner has been brought into the attack.
Four! This time to fine leg. Butler has looked in golden touch all IPL. 13 runs off this over, this is a fine start to the innings.
Another four by Butler! That’s just a gentle flick, but the outfield is fast. Beats the man giving chase from mid-on.
Patel puts Thampi to the boundary for a poor start to the proceedings for the Lions. Parthiv cuts easily over backward point
Parthiv Patel and Buttler are at the crease. Parthiv Patel is on strike. Basil Thampi will open the attack.
Although Mumbai Indians hold the edge, Gujarat Lions will feel much better given they were 101/7 around the 16-over mark. 153 is definitely a below par score, on this track, you would think. There were 4 double digit scores, among which 3 belong to the bottom 6. So, that’s not a good sign if you want to win games. Some poor shot selections, must say. Krunal Pandya recorded his best ever figures in IPL after Malinga claimed the big guns at the top. Some fearless batting from Tye helped Gujarat Lions get past the shambles. Should be relatively easy for Mumbai Indians, but their recent batting form suggests otherwise.
Gujarat Lions have set a target of 154, with Ishan Kisan scoring a solid 48 off 25 balls at the top of the order, before a batting collapse meant only Jadeja, Faulkner and Tye got to two digit figures.
On the bowlers’ front, it was Krunal Pandya’s show today. He returned with figures of 3-14, including the important scalps of Karthick and Ravindra Jadeja. The mini-batting collapse precipitated by Pandya and Malinga helped restrict the Lions to a modest score of 153, and Mumbai batsmen are expected to have an easy time chasing.
Rohit says he would chosen to bowl first anyway. Malinga and Krunal Pandya are going to replace Johnson and Karn Sharma.
Raina says the wicket looks dry. Irfan Pathan is in for Nathu Singh
Teams:
Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik(w), James Faulkner, Andrew Tye, Irfan Pathan, Basil Thampi, Ankit Soni
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma(c), Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah
The last time these two sides met, Mumbai Indians emerged victors, by a comfortable margin at that. Their last two games, though, haven’t quite gone according to plan. The vulnerability in the batting order has come under a severe scanner. The 4-day break should have helped them regroup and plot rejuvenated strategies. And what about Gujarat Lions? They have crushed RCB a couple of nights ago and are high on confidence. Should be at their supreme best to edge past a solid Mumbai Indians side. They know it all. A cracker of a game on our hands. Do hang in for the toss and team news…
