Lucknow Super Giants suffered a remarkable, collective choke in the final three overs to lose by just seven runs to the Gujarat Titans in their IPL match at the Bharat Ratna Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday afternoon.
Chasing a modest 136 for victory, the home team lost four wickets in four balls including two run-outs in the final over to collapse from 126 for three to 128 for seven after captain KL Rahul had anchored the run chase with an innings of 68 from 61 balls.
LSG appeared to be cruising to a straightforward victory when they reached 106 for one in the 15th over after opener Kyle Mayers (24) was bowled by Afghan legspinner Rashid Khan.
But left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad (2-18) claimed two quick wickets to put the jitters into the home side, with Krunal Pandya (23) stumped by Wriddhiman Saha and Nicholas Pooran (1) top-edging a slog-sweep having used up seven balls.
Even so, with 23 runs required from the final three overs and seven wickets in hand, the batting side were still hot favourites. But Mohammad Shami bowled a magnificent penultimate over, conceding just five runs, and it was followed by an even better final over from veteran Mohit Sharma, whose slower balls were mesmerising and accounted for the wickets of KL and Marcus Stoinis, both caught in the deep.
Earlier, captain Hardik Pandya overcame a sluggish start to hit four late sixes during an innings of 66 which accelerated his team to a meek total of 135 for six after choosing to bat first.
Pandya reached 30 from 32 balls but the late flurry of boundaries saw him reach 66 from 50 (2x4, 4x6) by the time he was caught on the deep midwicket boundary in the final over.
But it was a disappointing batting display against an excellent, clever bowling attack, with David Miller enduring a rare failure as he scratched out a boundaryless six runs from 12 balls, repeatedly deceived by slower balls from Afghan seamer Naveen ul-Haq who was in sublime form with figures of 4-0-19-1.
Shubman Gill (0) chipped left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya’s second delivery to long on but fellow opener Wriddhiman Saha made an enterprising 47 from 37 balls (6x4) before slapping the same bowler to long on.
Forty-year-old legspinner Amit Mishra (-2-0-9-1) deceived Abhinav Manohar (3) in the flight to have him well caught by ul-Haq at wide long off and ul-Haq clean bowled Vijay Shankar (10) to leave the innings wobbling on 92 for four with just five overs remaining. Krunal was outstanding with 2-16 from his four overs.
The Titans now move into a three-way tie at the top of the log with four wins and eight points along with the Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS: KL Rahul (captain), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran (wkt), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
GUJARAT TITANS: Wriddhiman Saha (wkt), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (captain), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma