Malik's maiden fifer in vain as GT clinch last-ball win

In what turned out to be a game where the pendulum oscillated back and forth, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan shared a game-changing 59-run stand to power Gujarat Titans to a famous five-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad. GT needed 22 off the last over and three off the final ball, with Rashid Khan scoring a six off Marco Jansen to script a jailbreak. GT sit on top of the points table with 14 points while SRH are slotted in at third place with 10 points.

The Rashid-Tewatia tornado

Umran Malik had sprinted to the crease to bowl at scorching pace to snare all the five wickets that were taken by SRH to put GT in a spot of bother at 140 for 5 after 16 overs in a chase of 196. At that juncture, Tewatia was joined by Rashid in the middle. The duo went on to crack a slew of shots to break the game open. With 35 needed off 12 balls, the left-handed Tewatia used the left-arm angle to his advantage by smacking T Natarajan for a boundary and six - slog-sweep over cow corner.

In the last over, Tewatia began on the right note by clubbing Jansen over deep midwicket for another six but could only eke out a single off the next ball. Rashid then showcased his pyrotechnics - he smashed one into the downtown territories, he next managed to slice a full toss for another six followed by a pull that left Jansen and his SRH team-mates crestfallen. In fact, it has turned into a bittersweet IPL for the 6'8" bowler. He was instrumental in the win against RCB by bagging three wickets. Just that in the very next match, he struggled for control and finished with sorry figures of 0 for 63. On the other hand, it was not for the first time Tewatia (in the company of Rashid) had again managed to script a jailbreak in the IPL.

Umran Malik - Taking the pitch out of the equation

Until the game-breaking stand between Tewatia and Rashid, Umran had hogged all the limelight with express pace. When he came on to bowl, SRH were desperately looking for a spark as GT had made a breezy start. In the 8th over, Gill manufactured room but could only hear the death rattle. He then used the short ball to good effect against Hardik Pandya, with the all-rounder top-edging one to third man. The young fast bowler wasn't done yet as he nailed the yorker against Wriddhiman Saha and also generated a hint of swing with the old to shatter the timber. He continued to take the pitch out of the equation and castled both David Miller and Abhinav Manohar in a single over. At that stage, SRH seemed to have all the aces.

Saha powers GT's positive start

Saha began on a positive note, by thumping Jansen for a boundary and flicked it the into the stands via deep backward square leg. He then targeted Bhuvneshwar Kumar with two boundaries. In the very next over, he lofted T Natarajan over mid-off for yet another boundary. In the last over of the Powerplay, he glanced Natarajan through fine leg and also skipped down the track to crunch two fours, as GT ended the Powerplay with 59. Despite losing wickets at the other end, he didn't lose his focus and reached his fifty in the 11th over with a single off Washington Sundar.

Abhishek-Markram set the platform

Earlier, fifties from Abhishek and Markram had piloted SRH to a good total in good conditions for batting. Mohammed Shami had cleaned up Kane Williamson at the start of the innings with a trademark delivery that swung in just enough before nifty movement off the seam to rattle the stumps. Shami also dislodged Rahul Tripathi LBW with the help of DRS.

Markram then took on the challenge of facing GT's two fast bowlers - Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson - with the slog and pull. On the other hand, Abhishek tonked Rashid for two sixes in the 12th over. In the 15th over, Rashid again turned out to be expensive as Markram and Abhishek employed the pull and loft to collect a boundary each.

Eventually, Joseph dismissed Abhishek but by then SRH had found themselves in a position of strength. In the last over, Shashank Singh also gave a glimpse of his pyrotechnics with a hat-trick of sixes against Ferguson as his SRH team-mates clapped from the dug-out. Unfortunately, it didn't prove to be enough.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 195/6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 65; Mohammed Shami 3-39) lost to Gujarat Titans 199/5 in 20 overs (W Saha 68; Umran Malik 5-25) by five wickets.