Jasprit Bumrah hands Mumbai Indians super over win vs Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017

Jasprit Bumrah’s superb bowling in the super over helped Mumbai Indians clinch a tense IPL 2017 encounter against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot

Jasprit Bumrah bowled a brilliant super over to guide Mumbai Indians to victory over Gujarat Lions in the IPL 2017 here on Saturday after Ravindra Jadeja effected a direct run out off the final delivery to force a tie. (IPL 2017 FULL COVERAGE)

Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians celebrates with teammates after the win over Gujarat Lions during match 35 of the 2017 Indian Premier League at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. (Mumbai Indians/Twitter)

Needing 12 to win in the Super Over, Gujarat Lions’ Brendon Mcullum and Aaron Finch couldn’t hit Jasprit Bumrah out of the park. Bumrah held his nerve after bowling a no ball and wide in an eight-ball over, which went for only six runs. (IPL 2017 SCHEDULE)

A herculean bowling effort and brilliant fielding helped Gujarat Lions fight back. Suresh Raina’s side effected four run outs, including two by Jadeja’s in the last over

For the second match in a row, Mumbai Indians choked under pressure and a match the former champions should have won easily ended in a tie. Gujarat Lions scored 153 for nine and MI were 153 all out in 20 overs. In the Super Over, Mumbai Indians scored 11/2 off James Faulkner and Gujarat Lions finished on 6/0.

It looked like Mumbai Indians were on their way to an easy win but some late drama and unwanted stroke play saw them lose their way. Four run outs didn’t help their cause either.

Krunal Pandya (29), who looked like he had won the match for Mumbai after he hit a brilliant six off the first ball of the final over bowled by Irfan Pathan, couldn’t see them through and was the last man out, caught short by Jadeja’s hit while running for the winning run.

Parthiv Patel’s 44-ball 70 meant Mumbai Indians were give a great launchpad but they lost their way with Jos Buttler (9), Nitish Rana (19) and Rohit Sharma (5) departing one after another. Patel held fort at one end but was dismissed by James Faulkner to set the cat among the pigeons.

Choking again

The dismissals of Kieron Pollard (15) and Hardik Pandya (4) only made things difficult for Mumbai Indians. Both departed while trying to hit young pacer Basil Thampi out of the park.

Saturday’s performance was a repeat of what MI did in the last match against Rising Pune Supergiant when they choked under pressure to lose by three runs at the Wankhede.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians bowlers maintained an immaculate length to stifle the Gujarat Lions’ batsmen. Mumbai have now kept their opponents to less than 180 in seven matches they have bowled first.

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Young Ishan Kishan gave Gujarat Lions a flying start from one end but their experienced players couldn’t keep the same momentum from the other, falling cheaply to dent Gujarat Lions’ chances of posting a big total.

Brendon MCCullum (6), Suresh Raina (1), Aaron Finch (0) and Dinesh Karthik (2) headed back to the pavilion in quick succession as the wheels came off their batting. Kishan, in his endeavor to push the run-rate, fell for a 35-ball 48.

Later, Ravindra Jadeja (28), Faulkner (21) and Andrew Tye (25) tried to push Gujarat’s scoring but it was too late by then.

Miserly spell

Harbhajan Singh, who took Kishan’s wicket, again conceded below-six runs per over, returning figures of 1/23 in four overs. Krunal Pandya was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers, claiming 3/14.

Lasith Malinga, back after sitting out the last two games, went for a few initially but bounced back to end with 2/33.

Such was Mumbai Indians’ control over the match that Gujarat Lions took 15 overs to reach the three-figure mark.

Good start

Earlier, Gujarat Lions lost McCullum in the second over but with Kishan going well, they reached 46 for one in four over.

The turning point came in the fifth over when Jasprit Bumrah sent back Raina. From there, not only did Mumbai Indians’ bowlers choke the runs but also kept taking wickets. From over 5 to 10 MI conceded just 24 runs.