As if smashing Mutthiah Muralitharan, one of the best bowlers of all-time, for a couple of massive sixes wasn't enough, Chris Lynn pulled off one of the great catches you are ever likely to see to pull the Kolkata Knight Riders to an unbelievable get-out-of-jail victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who for about 39 overs of the IPL 2014 game in Sharjah, looked like the only winners.
The RCB bowlers came to the fore one more time to restrict KKR to just 150 for seven in their 20 overs, with Lynn (45) and Jacques Kallis (43) the only ones playing a decent hand with the bat.
That target was something RCB, with their batting prowess, led by Virat Kohli, would have normally chased down with one hand tied behind their back, but the Knight Riders refused to let the fat lady sing in the Royal Challenger's favour, showing some outstanding final over nerves to pull off a stunning two-run victory.
With Kohli, who got a nasty hit on his face with the ball in the first innings, and Yuvraj Singh waiting in the wings, the last thing KKR needed was a good start for RCB, but that is precisely what Parthiv Patel and Yogesh Takawale opening the innings with Chris Gayle still struggling with a back injury, provided courtesy a partnership of 67 from just 46 balls.
Takawale, playing his first match this season, was the aggressor, scoring 40 from just 28 deliveries (8x4), while making Morne Morkel look like a slow medium-pacer.
The Knight Riders eventually broke through in the eighth over with Jacques Kallis (one for 26) trapping Takawale in front, while Patel was also sent packing three deliveries later as R Vinay Kumar got in amongst the wickets.
However, with just 84 required from 12 overs, and the unstoppable Kohli and Yuvraj at the crease, there looked like being only one winner, especially with Morne Morkel (4-0-34-0) having an off day.
Kohli and Yuvraj put on 55 in 7.4 overs, with the former as smooth as silk, playing some wonderful boundaries, before finally getting out to Sunil Narine(one for 17), with the spinner beating the in-form man to clip off-stump.
The wicket of Kohli (31, 23b, 4x4) in the 16th over, only brought in another of the best batsmen in the world -- AB De Villiers to the crease. With RCB needing just 28 runs from the final four overs, KKR were always fighting the odds, despite Yuvraj (31, 34b, 2x4, 1x6) being far from his flowing best.
The Knight Riders, though, refused to give up, with Umesh Yadav dismissing Yuvraj in the penultimate over to take the game into the final over the RCB needing nine from the final six balls.
R Vinay Kumar, the former RCB player, was the man asked to restrict De Villiers and Albie Morkel to seven runs or less, and the KKR bowler was given some outstanding support by his fielders - particularly one by the name of Chris Lynn, who with RCB needing six runs from three balls pulled off one of the best outfield catches you will ever see - De Villiers (11, 12b, 1x4) looked to have smashed RCB to victory with a six, only to see the Australian arch his body back, after he had slipped over initially, pluck the ball out of the air, and somehow land inside the boundary line.
That turned the game completely with Albie Morkel unable to strike the six runs needed from the final two deliveries as KKR pulled off an as-dramatic-as-it-gets win, with RCB finishing on 148 for five from 20 overs.
Earlier, only two players really stood up to the test against the RCB bowlers, as KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir found himself picking up a dubious hat-trick.
The pressure was on Gambhir to not only score some big runs, but just score just one run, after two successive ducks. However, the Gods were not smiling on the left-hander again, with Mitchell Starc spearing one into his pads and catching him right in front of leg stump first ball - a third straight duck it was for Gambhir, putting KKR yet again right behind the eight ball right from the off.
Manish Pandey has had a really good tournament so far, but there was to be no impressive innings this time around, with Albie Morkel picking up the former RCB man to out KKR on 10 for two in the second over.
Chris Lynn was brought in for Shakib Al Hasan for this game, and that decision proved to be a brilliant one as the Australian built a strong partnership with the impregnable Jacques Kallis to set a solid base for the likes of Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan to go nuts.
The duo put on 80 runs in ten overs together, with Lynn and Kallis particularly severe on the Sri Lankan legend Mutthiah Muralitharan, who went for 25 runs in just two overs.
Lynn, who has played a couple of T20Is for Australia and seems to love this format, was looking pretty good, but just when he looked to step on the accelerator to really crank the innings up, he fell. Varun Aaron, was the wicket-taker, with Lynn (45, 31b, 3x4, 3x6) unable to clear AB I-never-miss-a-catch De Villiers at long-off.
KKR were still in a strong position at 90 for three in the 12th over, but I-have-forgotten-how-to-bat Pathan increased the pressure on his side by looking for a big shot in just his second ball and gifting a second wicket to Aaron (4-0-16-3) in the same over.
Kallis (43, 42b, 2x4, 1x6) was dismissed a couple of overs later by Yuzvendra Chahal, who was again extremely impressive, with Robin Uthappa (22, 18b, 1x6) and Suryakumar Yadav (24, 18b, 1x4, 1x6) unable to really catch fire to give KKR the final overs impetus.
But, with some outstanding bowling and ridiculous fielding, KKR somehow managed to pull a few rabbits out of the hat to stun RCB.
