Rajasthan Royal's young fast bowler Kuldeep Sen defended 15 runs in the final over of the innings to seal a brilliant three-run win over Lucknow Super Giants and take his team to the top of the Indian Premier League points table on Sunday.
The match seemed done and dusted in the first four overs of the chase as Lucknow were reduced to 14-3 in pursuit of 166. However, contributions from Quinton de Kock (39), Deepak Hooda (25) and Krunal Pandya (22) kept them in the chase before Marcus Stoinis came in and smashed the ball around to give Lucknow hope.
Stonis hit the last two balls of Sen for a four and six to finish on 38 off 17 balls, but the game was gone by then.
Earlier, the match was set up by West Indies' Shimron Hetmyer who hit an unbeaten 59 off 36 balls and lifted Royals from 67-4 to 165-6.
The match will also be remembered for a tactical move by Rajasthan - the first in top level cricket anywhere. Ravichandran Ashwin, who shared a key 68-run fifth-wicket stand with Hetmyer, retired out with 10 balls left to bring in power hitter Riyan Parag.
Parag hit the third last ball of Rajasthan's innings for a six, making the tactical decision a winning one in the end.
Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson said Ashwin's act was a "team decision". "It's about being Rajasthan Royals. We keep trying different things," Samson said after his team's win.
"Have been talking about it before the season. We thought that if some situation occurs, we can use it. It was a team decision."
Lucknow's chase got off to a horror start as captain KL Rahul was clean bowled by Trent Boult with a full ball from round the stumps. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal continued his wicket-taking form, picking up 4-41.
The thrilling match at the Wankhede Stadium was watched by Bollywood star Suniel Shetty and his actor daughter Athiya.
