Rajkot: Jasprit Bumrah produced one of the finest death overs in the history of Indian Premier League as Mumbai Indians nearly committed harakiri before edging out Gujarat Lions in a thrilling Super Over finish. Chasing a modest target of 154, Mumbai Indians were cruising along at 104 for 2 in 13 overs and then 127 for 4 in 16 overs. An inspired spell by James Faulkner (2/34) and Basil Thampi (3/29) coupled with Ravindra Jadeja's brilliance in the field saw Mumbai Indians nearly pull off a defeat from the jaws of victory.
There were four run-outs including three in the last seven balls as Mumbai Indians were all-out for 153 off the final ball. The One Over Eliminator saw Mumbai Indians score 11 with Kieron Pollard hitting Faulkner for a boundary and a six.
Defending 11 runs, Bumrah bowled a no-ball and wide in his first three deliveries but displayed brilliant variations of slower deliveries including a few in the blockhole as Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum could manage only six runs. Each of his deliveries were unplayable proving why he is an asset for the Indian team in limited overs format.
The seventh win took them to 14 points and on par with Kolkata Knight Riders. One more victory from the remaining five games will seal their spot in the last four. For Gujarat Lions, the sixth defeat in nine matches further diminished their chances of qualifying for the next stage.
First it was the collective effort from the bowlers that enabled them to restrict Gujarat Lions to a manageable 153 for 9 with Krunal Pandya (3/14) doing the star turn. Lasith Malinga (2/33), Jasprit Bumrah (2/32) and Harbhajan Singh (1/23) also played their part to perfection.
Parthiv Patel then punched his way to 70 off 44 balls with the help nine fours and a six setting the platform for a victory before it all got messed up. James Faulkner bowled a good 14th over where he removed Rohit Sharma (5) and Parthiv. Basil Thampi then removed Kieron Pollard (15) to reduce MI to 127 for 5, still needing 27 runs for victory.
However Krunal (29) kept his cool but was run-out off the last delivery of the final over bowled by Irfan Pathan. Earlier, Gujarat Lions suffered a batting collapse before a rear-guard action saw them post a decent 153 for 9 after opting to bat.
Save young Ishan Kishan (48 off 35 balls) and the seasoned Ravindra Jadeja (28), the other Gujarat Lions batsmen were guilty of playing loose shots with home team reeling at 101 for 7.
It was Andrew Tye's 12-ball-25 with two sixes and two fours and 42-run eighth wicket stand with Faulkner (21 off 27 balls) that at least provided Gujarat with a total to fight. This was after the former India U-19 captain Kishan's attractive strokeplay provided a solid platform which they failed to capitalise.
Malinga made a successful comeback into the team removing the dangerous Brendon McCullum (6) and in-form Aaron Finch (1) to make it easier for the other bowlers. Harbhajan was once again at his parsimonious best. He found an able ally in left-arm spinner Krunal as the duo tightened the noose around the Lions batting line-up.
In fact, Krunal after fireworks with the bat was today lethal with the ball. Harbhajan-Krunal duo gave away only 37 runs between them in the eight overs bowled and also poached four wickets. More importantly, they bowled as many as 27 dot balls. Add Malinga's 10 to it, Mumbai Indians' three bowlers in all
produced more than six maiden overs to make life miserable for the Lions batsmen.
The start was good for Lions despite Malinga cleaning up McCullum. Kishan hit some fantastic strokes including a six each off Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan. Malinga was smashed over mid-wicket while McClenaghan was hooked for good measure. He also hit six boundaries. But once skipper Suresh Raina failed to check his shot off a Jasprit Bumrah delivery, things started falling apart.
Finch (1) was played on off Malinga. Dinesh Karthik (2) was stumped when Krunal deliberately pushed one down the leg. At 56 for 4, Jadeja joined Kishan as they added 27 runs before Harbhajan, who had kept the Jharkhand left-hander quiet after the first over got him to loft one that was taken by
Pollard at long. Jadeja and Irfan Pathan were snuffed out before Tye and
Faulkner joined hands to do some damage control.
Scorecard
Gujarat Lions: I. Kishan c Pollard b Harbhajan Singh 48, B. McCullum b Malinga 6, S. Raina c Pollard b Bumrah 1, A. Finch b Malinga 0, K. Karthik st Patel b K. Pandya 2, R. Jadeja c & b K. Pandya 28, J. Faulkner b Bumrah 21, I. Pathan c H. Pandya b K. Pandya 2, A. Tye run out (Bumrah) 25, B. Thampi (not out) 2, Ankit Soni (not out) 7. Extras (lb 1, w 7, nb 3) 11. Total (for 9 wickets in 20 overs) 153.
FoW: 1-21, 2-46, 3-48, 4-56, 5-83, 6-95, 7-101, 8-144, 9-144.
Bowling: McClenaghan 4-0-50-0, Malinga 4-0-33-2, Harbhajan 4-0-23-1, Bumrah 4-0-32-2, Krunal 4-0-14-3.
Mumbai Indians: P. Patel c Karthik b Faulkner 70, J. Buttler run out (Faulkner) 9, N. Rana lbw b Ankit Soni 19, R. Sharma c Karthik b Faulkner 5, K. Pollard c McCullum b Basil Thampi 15, K. Pandya not out 16, H. Pandya c Ishan Kishan b Basil Thampi 4, Harbhajan Singh lbw b Basil Thampi 0, M. McClenaghan run out (Pathan) 1, J. Bumrah run out (Jadeja) 0, L. Malinga not out 0. Extras (w-1) 1. Total: (for ten wickets in 20 overs) 153.
FoW: 1-43, 2-82, 3-104, 4-109, 5-127, 6-139, 7-142, 8-143, 9-150, 10-153.
Bowling: Basil Thampi 4-0-29-3, J. Faulkner 4-0-34-2, I. Pathan 2-0-26-0, Ankit Soni 4-0-16-1, S. Raina 4-0-28-0, A. Tye 1-0-9-0, R. Jadeja 1-0-11-0.
