New Delhi: The Indian Premier League 2017 season witnessed one of the closest contests in the season so far after hosts Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians settled the clash following a Super Over.
The match might have ended in a tie after both teams had played 20 overs but it wasn't always that neck-to-neck. (IPL 2017 - Points Table | Photos)
Needing only 31 runs off the last four overs, the visitors were seemingly cruising home to a comfortable win. (KXIP vs DD - Live Blog | Scorecard)
But Thampi helped Gujarat stage a late comeback by taking three wickets in his last two overs.
Kieron Pollard looked promising during his brief stay in the middle, but poor timing while attempting to smash a Thampi delivery into the stands did him in as he could only manage to pick out McCullum at the long-on boundary.
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Krunal Pandya got a reprieve in the next over when Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina dropped him at midwicket. Krunal celebrated by smashing the last ball of the over for a boundary.
But the visitors could not make use of the chance as Hardik Pandya fell off the first ball of the next over.
Looking to hit Thampi over the onside, Hardik miscued his shot as Ishan Kishan claimed a relatively easy catch at deep midwicket.
Mumbai suffered another jolt off the fifth ball of the over when Thampi trapped Harbhajan Singh leg before.
The over had another setback in store for the visitors as Mitchell McClenaghan was run out thanks Irfan Pathan who did well to stop a boundary before coming up with an excellent throw that directly hit the stumps.
That seemed shift the momentum decisively in favour of the hosts with Mumbai needing 11 runs off the last over.
But Krunal turned things around by hitting Pathan for a six off the first ball of the 20th over.
But Gujarat were not ready to gie up just yet. Ravindra Jadeja was the man of the moment for the hosts effecting two run outs in the space four balls with his accurate throws.
He pulled the hosts back into the game with a direct hit that sent Bumrah back to the pavilion.
The excitement lasted till the last ball.
Needing one run off one ball, Lasith Malinga attempted to flick an inswinging Ayorker Abut
missed. The ball hit the pads and travelled to Jadeja at point even as the bowler appealed for an lbw.
And then this happened...
Undoubtedly, it was a GAME CHANGER! Indeed!https://t.co/r2FPY1Mvvh #VIVOIPL via @ipl
— Prashant V. Singh (@PVS0512) April 30, 2017
Jadeja pulled off another direct hit to run out Krunal who was caught short of the crease despite a desperate dive.
(With IANS inputs)
