Gujarat stuns Lucknow and Punjab holds off Mumbai in IPL

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Veteran pacer Mohit Sharma bowled an incredible final over in Gujarat Titans' stunning seven-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.

Just as Gujarat defended its 135 total, Punjab Kings successfully defended its 214 total in the late game to beat Mumbai Indians by 13 runs.

While Lucknow failed to take the outright lead of the IPL, Gujarat and Punjab rose into a five-way tie for the lead but ranked fourth and fifth on run rate.

In a low-scoring game, Lucknow needed 12 off the last over but crashed, losing four wickets.

Sharma dismissed Lokesh Rahul on 68 and Marcus Stoinis for a first-ball duck. Then Sharma helped out with two run outs as Lucknow slumped from 126-3 to 128-7 and fell short of Gujarat’s 135-6.

Opting to bat on a slow, low surface, Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya batted at No. 3 and combined with Wriddhiman Saha for 68 runs.

Saha scored 47 off 37 balls, hitting six fours, but the Lucknow spinners didn’t allow him and Pandya to score freely. Left-armer Krunal Pandya, Hardik’s elder brother, picked up 2-16 in four overs and wrist spinner Amit Mishra took 1-9 in two overs without getting to finish his spell.

After Saha fell to Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya took charge without much support. Hardik reached 50 off 44 balls and unleashed four sixes at the death.

In reply, Lucknow's Rahul raced to a 55-run opening stand with Kyle Mayers. Rahul reached his half-century off 38 balls, including eight fours.

After Mayers was out for 24, Rahul shared another 51 runs with Krunal Pandya and Lucknow appeared to be cruising to victory.

But Rahul slowed down, scoring 18 runs off the next 23 balls faced. The game turned in Gujarat’s favor as Lucknow scored only 19 runs in the last five overs. Lucknow lost six wickets for 22 runs in the space of 32 balls.

By contrast in the late game, Wankhede Stadium’s pitch was near perfect for batting and 415 runs were scored in 40 overs between Punjab and Mumbai.

The IPL’s most expensive player and Punjab stand-in captain, Sam Curran, led the way with 55 off 29 balls to propel his side to 214-8.

Mumbai’s top purchase in the December auction, Cameron Green, scored 67 off 43 but the host failed to chase down the high target and finished at 201-6.

Curran rescued Punjab from 83-4 and put on 92 off 50 balls with Harpreet Singh, who scored 41.

Jitesh Sharma added 25 off seven balls, with four sixes, for the finishing touch to Punjab’s innings.

Mumbai started the chase promisingly thanks to skipper Rohit Sharma’s 44 off 27 balls.

Then Green took over by striking six fours and three sixes, reaching 50 off 38 balls. The Australian allrounder added 75 off 36 balls with Suryakumar Yadav.

Yadav, who had been fighting patchy form, came through with his first half-century of the season off 23 balls. Overall, he hit seven fours and three sixes and Mumbai’s chase was on track.

But death-bowling specialist Arshdeep Singh took 4-29 to bring Punjab back into the game. After Green fell to Nathan Ellis, Singh dismissed Yadav to stop Mumbai's momentum.

Mumbai needed 16 runs off the last over, and Singh conceded only two runs and took another two wickets. ___

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