Jasprit Bumrah produced one of the finest death overs in the history of the Indian Premier League as Mumbai Indians nearly self-destructed before edging out Gujarat Lions via the Super Over, in the Indian Premier League, in Rajkot, on Saturday.
Chasing a modest target of 154, Mumbai Indians were cruising along at 104 for two in 13 overs before they lost their way in the last few 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 bowled out for 153 off the final ball.
The One-over Eliminator saw Mumbai Indians score 11 with Kieron Pollard hitting James Faulkner for a boundary and a six.
Bumrah started the Super Over with a no-ball and then later bowled a wide before making a good comeback as he displayed brilliant variations of slower deliveries including a few in the blockhole as Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum could manage only six runs.
This was Mumbai's seventh win in IPL 10 as they took their tally 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 play-offs.
First, it was the collective effort from the bowlers that enabled them to restrict Gujarat Lions to a manageable 153 for nine 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 smashed 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.
Birthday boy 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 five, still needing 27 runs for victory.
However Krunal (29) kept his cool but was run-out off the last delivery of the final over by Jadeja's direct hit.
Earlier, Gujarat Lions suffered a batting collapse before a rear-guard action saw them post a decent 153 for nine with Mumbai Indians producing yet another inspired bowling performance.
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 James Faulkner (21 off 27 balls) that atleast 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.
Lasith Malinga (2/33 in 4 overs) 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 Singh (1/23 in 4 overs) was once again at his parsimonious best. He found an able ally in left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (3/14 in 4 overs) as the duo tightened the noose around the Lions batting line-up.
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 inside edge Malinga back on his stumps to be bowled for one.
Dinesh Karthik (2) was dismissed off Krunal as wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel came up with a smart stumping down the leg side.
At 56 for four, 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 in the deep.
Jadeja and Irfan Pathan were snuffed out before Tye and Faulkner joined hands to do some damage control.
