IPL 9: Gujarat survive Chris Morris' daredevilry in last ball thriller

New DelhiSouth African allrounder Chris Morris starred with both ball and bat but couldnt inpsire Delhi Daredevils to an improbable win as Gujarat Lions survived to win by one run in a nailbiting last ball thrillerat Feroz Shah Kotla groundon WednesdayMorris first bowled brilliantly to take two wickets and then played an emphatic innings as a batsman scoring at an amazing strike rate of over 250 His brilliant unbeaten 82 off just 32 balls included eight sixes and four boundariesInterestingly Morris score was the highest by a No 6 batsman in IPL historyBut all that was for nought as the Lions managed to restrict Delhi to 1715 from their 20 oversA dejected Delhi Daredevils Chris Morris walks back to the pavillion after losing the match during the 2016 Indian Premier League match against Gujarat Lions at The Feroz Shaht Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday PicAFPNeeding 14 runs required from the last 6 balls Morris started well with a boundary but Dwayne Bravo still had the last laugh as he didnt let Morris score boundary off the last ball to ensure that the Lions emerged winners on the nightComing out to bat at a difficult time when the Daredevilswere tottering at 57 for four in 104 overs while chasing achallenging 173 Morris played a sensational knock and strucksixes at will to notch up his fifty in just 17 balls thefastest half century of the seasonMorris 82 not out off 32 balls shared 87 runs for thefifth wicket with countrymate JP Duminy 48 off 43 balls totake Daredevils on the brink of a win before experiencedPraveen Kumar and Dwayne Bravo produced brilliant final twoovers to restrict Daredevils to 171 for fiveWith Daredevils needing 18 runs off the last two oversPraveen gave away four runs in the penultimate over beforeBravo held on to his nerves with a fine final over to seal thewin for Gujarat Lions and propel the debutants to the top ofthe standings with 10 points from six gamesEarlier openers Brendon McCullum andDwayne Smith struck explosive fifties before the Daredevilsbowlers pulled things back to restrict Gujarat Lions to 172for sixMcCullum 60 off 36 balls and Smith 53 off 30 gaveGujarat a blazing start as the dup put on 112 runs off just 64balls for the opening stand after being invited to batThe way McCullum and Smith were going at one stageGujarat were well and truly on course to post a 200plus totalbut Delhi bowlers especially Imran Tahir 324 and ChrisMorris 235 bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to keepthe total under their arms lengthIn the final 10 overs Lions lost 6 wickets for 62 runsafter having scored 110 in the first 10 oversIt was Smith who got Gujarat off to a rollicking starthitting Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan for four boundariesincluding three streaky shots to pick up 18 runs off theopening overAfter Smith it was McCullums turn to take Zaheer totask as the Kiwi struck the leftarm pacer for two lusty sixesin his next overBut McCullum was little lucky with the first six as SanjuSamson put down a regulation catch at deep coverGujarat Lions openers continued their carnage as Smithwhipped Nadeem over midwicket in the next over to bring up theteams 50 in just 23 ballsZaheer was forced to ring in the first change in thefifth over after conceding 32 runs in his first two overs Butthe man who replaced him Morris was also at the receiving endof the Gujarat openers onslaught as he leaked 12 runs in hisopening over which includes a six and a four from McCullumsbatThe duo was in a marauding mood as they did not spare asingle Daredevils bowler The home teams best bowlerlegspinner Amit Mishra too came under their wrath as heleaked 19 runs off his first two oversMcCullum showed why he is still the most dangerousbatsman in limited overs cricket event though he has quitinternational cricket He played shots to all parts of theground to bring up his halfcentury off just 27 balls with thehelp of five boundaries and three sixesAt the halfway stageGujarat Lions raced to 110 for no lossSmith on the other hand got to his fifty in 26 balls butsoon after reaching the feat he was out leg before to TahirHe struck five fours and three huge sixesBut then came the turnaround when Morris picked up twomore quick wickets in the next over that of dangerman McCullumand Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina to pull things back forDaredevilsWhile McCullum was bowled with a well disguised loopyslow fulltoss three balls later Raina was caught by KarunNair trying to fend a short balls into his rib cageGujarat Lions batsmen then committed harakiri as theylost three more quick wickets Ravindra Jadeja Ishan Kishan2 and Dinesh Karthik 19 iquest to spell their doomTowards the end James Faulkner 22 off 13 played a cameoto help Gujarats cause