Mumbai clinch a thriller in super over

After Patel’s half century, Bumrah bowls a beauty when it mattered most

Mumbai Indians held their nerve to edge past Gujarat Lions in the super over in the late match of Indian Premier League here at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium yesterday.

After the match ended in a tie with both teams posting 153, the super over saw Kieron Pollard help Mumbai Indians post 11 in five balls.

But Jasprit Bumrah bowled a great over to restrict Gujarat Lions to just six to hand Mumbai Indian’s a thrilling five-run win.

Earlier chasing, 153 to win, Parthiv Patel scored an impressive 44-ball 70 while Krunal Pandya (29) got run out off the last ball as the match ended in a tie. Batting first, Gujarat Lions recovered from a top-order batting collapse to post 153/9 in 20 overs.

Late resistance

At the top of the batting order, Gujarat only had young opener Ishan Kishan (48 off 35 deliveries) to thank while others perished without troubling the scorers. But Ravindra Jadeja (28), Andrew Tye (25) and James Faulkner (21) provided some late resistance to lift the hosts to 153/9.

Sri Lankan pace spearhead Lasith Malinga led the charge for Mumbai as he clean bowled Brendon McCullum (6) and Aaron Finch (0) in his opening spell. Fellow pacer Jasprit Bumrah too responded as he got rid of Suresh Raina (1) when the left-hander chipped one to Pollard at mid-off.

When left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya had Dinesh Karthik (2) stumped by Parthiv Patel, Gujarat were struggling at 56/4 in 8.1 overs.

All this while, Ishan was impressing one and all with his dynamic stroke-making. He braved against a veteran like Malinga, hammering the Lankan for two fours and a six over midwicket in the second over.

The following over bowled by Mitchell McClanaghan saw Ishan repeat the treatment given to Malinga. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh too was milked for two fours in the fourth over as the 19-year-old sparkled. Out of the 46 runs Gujarat scored after fours overs, Ishan contributed 36.

However, the haul of wickets and the disciplined bowling from Mumbai pressurised him and he succumbed, being holed out by Pollard at long-off in the first ball of the 12th over, with Gujarat at 83/5. His 48 included six fours and two sixes.

Two overs later, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (28 off 21) too perished. The spinner than removed Irfan Pathan (2).

Later, Andrew Tye (25 off 12) and James Faulkner (21 off 27) delivered few blows to take Gujarat to 153/9.