Mohit Sharma steals the show as Titans pull off miraculous win

Lucknow Super Giants suffered a spectacular choke on Saturday (April 22) at home against Gujarat Titans as they squandered what appeared to be an easy win at one point. In a low-scoring game, LSG were cruising towards victory at one stage before Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmed and Mohammed Shami delivered at the death to stun the opposition and hand the defending champions a tight 7-run win.

Saha, the lone bright spot in PP

Both teams wanted to bat first on this surface and you could see why straight away. This was not a pitch conducive to batting. Shubman Gill mistimed one very early in his innings to depart for a duck and it took Titans 15 balls to fetch their first boundary. Hardik Pandya promoted himself up the order to come out at No.3 but just couldn't get going in the powerplay. With the pressure mounting, Wriddhiman Saha was the lone man fighting for the batting side as he gave his side the vital push in the powerplay. Having pulled Avesh Khan over midwicket for a boundary, Saha took on Ravi Bishnoi in the final over of the powerplay to strike back-to-back boundaries that took him to 34 off just 24 in the powerplay. The rest of the 12 deliveries produced only six runs.

Did things get better?

Absolutely not. Hardik did break the shackles by taking on Bishnoi for a four and a six but his brother returned to the attack to remove the well-set Saha in the very next over. Amit Mishra then accounted for Abhinav Manohar and Naveen-ul-Haq got rid of Vijay Shankar to leave Titans at 92/4 after 15 overs as Hardik'a strike rate continued to remain below 100.

How did they finish?

Runs were simply hard to come by on this surface as Hardik and David Miller failed to find the boundaries in the 16th and the 17th over. Bishnoi once again freed up the opposition batters as Hardik finally unleashed himself much to his dugout's delight as he plundered 19 runs off the over to get to his fifty as well. Naveen then delivered a terrific penultimate over which was then followed by Marcus Stoinis removing two more batters in the final over to keep Titans to 135.

LSG ace the powerplay again

After realising how run-scoring could get difficult against the softer ball, the home side made a very good start in the powerplay despite the fact that KL Rahul played out a maiden to begin proceedings. Rahul hit a hat-trick of boundaries off Shami in his next over and then combined with Kyle Mayers to hammer Rashid Khan for 16 in his first over. LSG ended up making 53 in the powerplay and put themselves on course to chase the target down with ease.

Was there an indication of the tide changing post PP?

Not really. Rashid did come back and get rid of Mayers but Rahul and Krunal Pandya kept the scorecard ticking. The frustration in the Titans camp was visible when Krunal was handed a reprieve by Abhinav Manohar as the home side knocked off 80 runs by the halfway mark. Rashid's final over was safely negotiated as Rahul then brought up his fifty which was then followed by Krunal smashing Rahul Tewatia over the ropes. After 14 overs, LSG had 105 on the board for the loss of just one wicket and were easily the favourites to fetch two points.

The monumental choke

The home side needed 31 runs off 35 deliveries with nine wickets in hand. Now we have witnessed a few collapses of epic proportions over the years in the IPL. But this could very well challenge them all even though run scoring just became more and more difficult as the game wore on. Noor Ahmed had Krunal out stumped in the 15th over and then Jayant Yadav followed it up with a tight over to set it up. Noor struck again as Nicholas Pooran failed to take off and mistimed one to depart for 1 off 7. In the final three overs, LSG needed 23 and were still the favourites before Mohit and Shami combined to pull off a thrilling win. Mohit got his variations spot on and the LSG batters just couldn't put him away as he conceded just six runs in the 18th over.

And the final two overs?

Shami then bowled fast and full as Rahul just couldn't find the boundary. That stunning penultimate over saw the India pacer concede just five as Mohit now 12 to defend off the last six balls. What followed suit after a risky double from Rahul off the first ball was absolute mayhem. Rahul and Stoinis found the fielders near the boundary off successive deliveries and two more batters were run out of the following two deliveries. As Rahul put it bluntly after the game, no one really knew what happened but it indeed just happened. LSG's failure to hit even a single boundary in the last seven overs saw them drop two easy points.

What's next for these two sides?

Gujarat Titans are going to take confidence from this game onto their next one against Mumbai Indians at home on Tuesday. Super Giants on the other hand will take on Punjab Kings in Mohali. They have a five-day gap before that fixture. Safe to say they definitely need that.

Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 135/6 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 66, Wriddhiman Saha 47; Krunal Pandya 2/16, Marcus Stoinis 2/20) beat Lucknow Super Giants 128/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 68; Mohit Sharma 2/17, Noor Ahmed 2/18) by 7 runs