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This story is from April 30, 2016

RPS vs GL talking points: Late drama and a last-ball win for Gujarat Lions

A look at the key passages of play from Match 25, in which Gujarat Lions beat Rising Pune Supergiants by three wickets in a last-ball thriller.
RPS vs GL talking points: Late drama and a last-ball win for Gujarat Lions
A look at the key passages of play from Match 25, in which Gujarat Lions beat Rising Pune Supergiants by three wickets in a last-ball thriller.
Key Highlights
  • Steve Smith scored 101 off 54 to register his maiden T20 century.
  • McCullum and Dwayne Smith scored 72 in the Powerplay overs.
  • Faulkner hit the winning run in the last ball to seal a nail-biter.
NEW DELHI: A look at the key passages of play from Match 25 of the Indian Premier League season nine, in which Gujarat Lions beat Rising Pune Supergiants by three wickets in a last-ball thriller at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday. With six victories in seven games, Gujarat consolidated their top position in the standings, whereas Pune remain at sixth after just two wins in seven games.
Pune's first 100-run stand
Sent in to bat, Pune lost Saurabh Tiwary early in the third over.
Steven Smith joined Ajinkya Rahane in the middle and revived the innings. Smith was in the mood for a big score as he opened his account with a four off Praveen Kumar off the first ball he faced. Smith hit Praveen for two back-to-back fours in the fifth over as they took Pune to 48/1 after Powerplay overs. Smith then got a big relief in the tenth over when he was clean bowled off a no-ball. He punished the debutant spinner Shivil Kaushik, who bowled with an unorthodox action, by hitting the first maximum of the innings off the subsequent free-hit and took his team to 85/1 at the halfway mark. The Australian then raced to his fifty off 29 balls and soon Pune recorded their first 100-run stand as Rahane completed his fifty off 43 balls. But the India international was run-out in the next over for 53, and their stand ended on 111 runs in 11.1 overs.
Smith's maiden ton and Dhoni's cameo
Smith proceeded ahead positively along with his skipper MS Dhoni. He hit a six each off Jadeja and Shivil in the next two overs to keep the scoreboard ticking as Pune reached 144/2 after the 16th. Dhoni joined the party with back-to-back sixes off Jadeja in the next as he accumulated 16 runs from it. Smith hit another six in the 18th over, bowled by Dwayne Bravo, and the Pune duo hit a four each off Praveen in the penultimate over, which yielded 14 runs. In the final over, Smith hit a four to record his maiden T20 hundred off 53 balls before being clean bowled by Bravo in the next ball. He hit five sixes and eight fours during his stay. Dhoni rounded off the Pune innings with a boundary to remain unbeaten on 30 off 18 balls, hitting two sixes and two fours, as he pushed the team's total to a formidable 195/3.

McCullum and Smith destroy Pune attack
After two watchful overs, in which Gujarat scored just nine runs, Brendon McCullum targeted Albie Morkel in the third by hitting a six and three fours to score a whopping 24 runs in it. After that, McCullum and Dwayne Smith kept scoring boundaries at will to take Gujarat past the 50-run mark in just 4.1 overs. By the end of Powerplay, the score had soared to 72 for no loss. The duo hit 11 fours and a six before the fielding restrictions were lifted. They continued the attack as Smith welcomed Rajat Bhatia with a first-ball six in the seventh over and McCullum hit another maximum off Murugan Ashwin in the next. Bhatia though gave Pune their first breakthrough in the ninth over, when he dismissed dangerous McCullum whose 22-ball 43 came with the help of two sixes and five fours. With Dwayne Smith, he added 93 runs for the opening wicket in 8.1 overs. Dwayne Smith hit a four over mid-wicket in the next ball to bring up his fifty off 28 balls.
The final drama
Chasing 196-run target, Gujarat were left to score 20 runs in the final two overs with seven wickets in hand. Bravo smashed Ashok Dinda for a four in the first ball of the 19th over but was out caught behind in the next. Ravindra Jadeja was then run-out off the next. Then, Raina hit a four in the fifth ball to end the over on 187/5, which left nine to win in the final six balls. James Faulkner began the over with a four off Thisara Perera, but there was more drama in store as Gujarat lost Raina, 34 off 28 balls, and Ishan Kishan off the third and fourth ball. With three runs still needed off two, Faulkner held his nerves to score two in the penultimate ball and finally hit the winning run in the last to chase down the target with three wickets left.
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