Daniel Sams proved to be the hero of the night as the Aussie left-arm seamer showcased incredible skills and mental strength to defend 9 runs against Gujarat Titans' finishers and help Mumbai Indians script a jailbreak at the Brabourne Stadium.
The likes of Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan and David Miller have scripted multiple final over heists for the Titans this season, but Sams proved to be too good for them on the night with his variations.
The tide started to change when Tewatia ran himself out while trying to complete the second run. It eventually boiled down to 6 off 2 deliveries, but Miller failed to connect with the slower ball twice.
Sams proved to be the messiah for Mumbai on a night where their toothless bowling and lacklustre middle-order was once again exposed to the hilt.
MI got just 177 on a placid pitch and short ground despite the kind of start that they got- 0/63 in 6 overs- underpinned the kind of season they've endured, where senior players (in this case Rohit) squandering their starts or playing a match-losing knock (Pollard, who managed a pain-staking 14-ball 4).
But, it wasn't all doom and gloom for Mumbai as the young guns in Tilak Varma, and especially Tim David (44* off 21), stepped up the gas, in the end, to help them get to 177.
Rashid Khan proved to be the pick of the bowlers for GT. The champion spinner claimed a dangerous-looking Rohit and a woefully out-of-form Pollard and gave away just 24 runs in 4 overs.
Chasing 178, GT never looked in any sort of trouble as Wriddhiman Saha (55 off 40) and Shubman Gill (52 off 36) took apart the MI attack, including Jasprit Bumrah (0/48 in 4 overs), adding 106 runs in just 12.1 overs.
Murugan Ashwin gave MI a glimmer of hope by dismissing both openers in the 13th over, but when Sai Sudharsan and Hardik Pandya were in the midst of a 26-run-stand, it looked as if the game was over.
But Sudharsan got hit-wicket in the freakish manner possible while Hardik got run-out on 24 (14).
With Tewatia and Miller at the crease and Rashid to follow, the game looked like a forgone conclusion when Sams marked his run-up for the final over.
However, he proved everyone wrong and delivered an incredible over to take MI past the finishing line.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indians- 177/6 (20)
Tim David 44* (21), Rohit Sharma 43 (28), Ishan Kishan 45 (29);
Rashid Khan 2/24 (4)
Gujarat Titans - 172/5 (20)
W Saha 55 (40), Shubman Gill 52 (36);
Murugan Ashwin 2/29 (4), Daniel Sams 0/18 (3)
Match Result: MI won by 5 runs