The Gujarat Lions beat the Rising Pune Supergiants by three wickets at the MCA stadium in Pune on Friday. Going into the match, Gujarat were at the top of the table, with five wins in their six matches. Pune on the other hand were languishing in sixth place. Gujarat won the toss and elected to bowl on what looked like a green surface, and the match certainly played out in favour of the batsmen.

Though Pune lost Saurabh Tiwary early, Ajinkya Rahane and Steven Smith piled on a second-wicket partnership of 111 runs in 67 balls. Rahane eventually got out after scoring 53 off 45 balls, but Smith carried on with help from captain MS Dhoni at the other end, getting out just after completing his century off 53 balls.

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Smith's powerful hitting was enough to take Pune to a strong 195 for 3 in their 20 overs. There was little cheer for the Gujarat bowlers, with Dwayne Bravo picking up Smith’s wicket – the other two to fall were run outs.

Even with a big total to chase, Gujarat couldn't have looked less at ease. They raced to 93/0 at the end of the eighth over, before Brendon McCullum’s blazing 43 off 22 was cut short by a cutter from Rajat Bhatia. At the other end, Dwayne Smith got to his fifty with seemingly little trouble, but got out to a yorker from Thisara Perera shortly after. It was up to captain Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik to put together the next 100 runs or so, and they plodded along, rotating the strike and hitting regular boundaries.

Karthik (33 off 20 balls) got out for with a little more than three overs to go, and the team suddenly looked like they had given Pune an opening, with boundaries drying up. Ashok Dinda followed Karthik's wicket by taking Dwayne Bravo's as well and Ravindra Jadeja was run out in the same over. But it wasn't Pune's day after all. In an incredible last over, which saw two more wickets fall and a single required off the last ball, birthday boy James Faulkner held his nerve and took Gujarat home.