Gujarat Titans pulled off a thrilling victory over the Chennai Super Kings by three wickets thanks largely to an inspired innings of 94* off 51 by South African batter David Miller.
In the pantheon of great comebacks in the history of the Indian Premier League, this one ranks pretty high.
At one end were defending champions Chennai Super Kings, fresh off their victory against RCB in the previous game, looking like a transformed team following their dismal start to the season and led by an eager captain out to prove his mettle in Ravindra Jadeja.
At the other end, IPL debutants Gujarat Titans, surprise league leaders after five rounds who were now without the services of their inspirational captain Hardik Pandya following an injury suffered on the eve of the tie.
CSK, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad's splendid 73 off 48 and Ambati Rayudu's 46 off 31, set GT a competitive total of 169/5.
What ensued was one of the worst starts to a run chase in the IPL this season as Gujarat lost early wickets with both Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar departing for a duck. The Titans were reduced to 16-3 at the end of the fourth over with Abhinav Manohar's dismissal and David Miller's arrival at the crease.
While batters around him struggled, Miller seemed to be unfazed by the task at hand and went about his innings in a structured manner, finding the occasional boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking.
By the 8th over, Wriddhiman Saha was gone for 11 and GT slumped to 48-4. Again, Miller went about his business, slamming a four and a six off Moeen Ali's bowling in the 9th and 11th overs as he raced to 35* at the end of 11.
The floodgates finally opened in the 12th as he went after Jadeja, hammering two sixes and a four in a lucrative over that added 19 runs to the total and also brought up his 50*
Even then, the odds were heavily stacked against Gujarat with the team now needing 83 runs from the final 48 balls.
Rahul Tewatia was the next to go, dismissed in the very next over by Dwayne Bravo, who went on to register a wicket maiden off the 13th over.
Rashid Khan's entry was a crucial one as Miller and he would go on to add 70 runs off a mere 37 balls for the sixth wicket.
No bowler was spared as Miller systematically went after Chris Jordan, Bravo and Mahesh Theeksana over the next three overs, raking two fours and two sixes in the process.
Then came the 18th over that added 25 runs to the tally courtesy some outrageous strokes from Rashid.
The penultimate over saw Bravo make an excellent comeback for CSK -- snatching two quick wickets off consecutive balls, including that of Rashid Khan to break the partnership.
Once again, Miller remained undeterred. 13 needed off 6 balls.
Jordan returned to deliver the final over and started off well -- with two dot balls off the first two deliveries.
Miller responded in style by hammering the third ball for six before being gifted with a free hit off a no ball on the next delivery -- which he gleefully dispatched for four towards deep square leg.
As Jordan delivered a waist high full-toss on the penultimate ball of the match, Miller smashed the ball down to long-on and triumphantly dove back into his crease chest-first to complete the game-winning runs.
Miller finished the match unbeaten with 94* off 51 balls. -- a remarkably dominant performance that included 8 fours and 6 sixes.
'It came off tonight and pretty chuffed with the innings. Getting in with the position at 16/3 gives me an opportunity to shine, doesn't happen too often, but when the ball was new it helps,' Miller, who has had middling performances in recent IPLs, said. 'Releases a lot of pressure.'
