Amit Mishra bowled one of the best ever overs in IPL history, picking up four wickets in five deliveries, including a hat-trick, as the Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off an amazing 11-run victory over Pune Warriors India.
Needing just 120 for a win, after Sunrisers could only manage 119 for eight, Pune Warriors had an unimaginable collapse, losing seven wickets for just 32 runs, with Mishra finishing with brilliant figures of 4-0-19-4, and becoming the second bowler in as many days to achieve a hat-trick, after Sunil Narine's heroics on Tuesday.
With the win, Sunrisers climbed to second in the IPL table, while Pune stay rooted near the bottom, and it will take some spirit to find their way back into the tournament after the staggering loss.
Pune Warriors made a brilliant start to their chase, smashing seven boundaries in the first four overs, as Robin Uthappa and Aaron Finch cranked it up right from the get-go.
However, after flying to 38 in 4.2 overs, both the openers were walking back to the pavilion, with Thisara Perera picking up wickets in successive deliveries.
Uthappa (22, 14b, 4x4) holed out to Biplab Samantray at deep square-leg, before Finch (16, 13b, 3x4) punched one straight to Quinton De Kock at backward point.
Tirumalasetti Suman followed suit soon after, given lbw by Asad Rauf, off Rahul Sharma's bowling.
Steven Smith and Angelo Mathews, tried to build a partnership, but there was to be no brilliance from Smith (17 in 25) this time around as the Australian batsman struggled a little to break the shackles, eventually succumbing to a catch in the deep, leaving Pune on 76 for four from 12.3 overs.
Mitchell Marsh, preferred to Ross Taylor, who lost his place as Mathews came back into the lineup, allied with his skipper, as Pune slowly but surely inched closer to the target, putting together 25 for the fifth wicket.
Sunrisers got back in the game, when Marsh, first, took on a short-pitched delivery from Dale Steyn but only managed a top edge to midwicket.
Abhishek Nayar, then, went two balls later -- another pulls shot that went awry, as Perera picked up his third wicket.
The self-destruct button of Pune Warriors went into overdrive, as the home side needing just 13 from 11 balls, lost four wickets in five balls, with a hat-trick to Mishra, his third in IPL.
Mathews played an irresponsible shot to hole out at long-on off Mishra's second delivery, before Bhuvneshwar Kumar was trapped lbw in the fourth.
A ridiculous hoick from Rahul Sharma saw his stumps uprooted, with the amazing hat-trick being completed as a googly went through Ashok Dinda's defences.
In the first innings, if everyone was expecting the Sunrisers batsmen to finally click into gear, they would have to wait. The away side have been the poorest batting side in IPL 2013, and that trend continued as they collapsed like a house of cards, before some good rearguard action brought them to some modicum of respectability.
Quinton De Kock, coming in for Kumar Sangakkara, did not have the greatest of debuts in IPL, struggling from the off and making just two from eight deliveries, before finding Mitchell Marsh at cover for Ashok Dinda's first wicket.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowling a brilliant spell, got his first wicket, as Parthiv Patel played inside the ball and saw his stumps uprooted.
Stand-in skipper Cameron White went next ball, rattling the batsmen's stumps after the ball went through the gate.
Hanuma Vihari avoided the hat-trick ball, off the first ball of the next over, but did not last too long with Kumar (three for 18) again coming to the fore, finding the edge of the right-hander, with Finch completing the catch at first slip.
Sunrisers, on 17 for four, were now in deep trouble and staring at a score well below 100, which became a distinct possibility when Karan Sharma and Thisara Perera fell in a bunch, leaving the away side on 44 for six from 10.4 overs.
Biplab Samantray and Amit Mishra then got together and salvaged something for their side, scoring 37 and 30 respectively, with Ashish Reddy also chipping in at the end to take the Sunrisers to 119, which eventually proved to be more than enough.
