PUNE: The batting might of Gujarat Lions once again came to the fore as Rising Pune Supergiants faced the heat for the second time in the Indian Premier League after the visitors chased down 196 on the last ball here on Friday.

Pune would’ve felt comfortable at the halfway stage after Steve Smith 101 off 54 balls (eight fours and five sixes) had powered the hosts to the second-highest total this season with his maiden T20 hundred.

It was the second instance that a batsman scoring a century against Gujarat ended up on the losing side after Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli’s knock had resulted in disappointment after his team failed to defend 180.

Dwayne Smith (63 off 37 balls) and Brendon McCullum (43 off 22) were once again the driving force behind Gujarat’s successful run-chase as they blasted 72 in the Powerplay overs on their way to adding 93 in eight overs.

When Smith was out, Gujarat still needed 80 from nine overs, but a fine 51-run stand between skipper Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik ensured the momentum was not lost.

Earlier, Smith became the seventh Australian to get a century in the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane (53 off 45) helped Smith put on 111 for the second wicket.

Summarised scores:

RISING PUNE SUPERGIANTS 195-3 in 20 overs (S.P.D. Smith 101, A.M. Rahane 53, M.S. Dhoni 30 not out); GUJARAT LIONS 196-7 in 20 overs (D.R. Smith 63, B.B. McCullum 43, S.K. Raina 34, K.D. Karthik 33; A.B. Dinda 2-40, N.L.T.C. Perera 2-41).

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2016