GL vs MI, IPL 2016 Results, Match Highlights & Updated Points Table

The IPL had arrived at such a stage where every game was going to impact the final 4 spots on the points table. With just 3 games left in the group stage, all the 6 teams involved had a chance to qualify for the playoffs. All the teams would keep an eye on the results of every game.

First, it was the Gujarat Lions who took on Mumbai Indians at home in the 52nd match of the season. GL were number 2 on the points table with 16 points and MI were number 5 with 14 points. A win for GL would ensure a place in the top whereas MI would have to wait for the results of the two games to follow even after a victory. Thus, the game was going to be an extremely riveting one.

MI had lost to GL earlier in the league when these two teams faced off. They struggled against the disciplined bowling of GL and could only manage143/8 in the 20 overs. Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe picked up 2 wickets each. GL, despite losing 7 wickets, won the game off the last ball thanks to a brilliant 67 by Aaron Finch which won him the man of the match award.

MI have had a history of qualifying to the next round by just getting over the line at the last moment. It was a question of whether the history would repeat itself or if GL could make it big in their first year as a franchise.

Gujarat Lions won the toss and elected to field first

Playing XIs:

Gujarat Lions:

Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Aaron Finch, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Eklavya Dwivedi, Praveen Kumar, Shadab Jakati, Dhawal Kulkarni

Mumbai Indians:

Rohit Sharma (c), Martin Guptill, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jos Buttler (wk), Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Vinay Kumar, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah

A dramatic power play

The first six overs were full of drama. Rohit Sharma hit 2 glorious boundaries in the first over off Praveen Kumar. Then he survived a close shout for LBW against Dhawal Kulkarni. The replays suggested that he was plumb in front, but the umpire refused. Rohit added salt to the injury by smashing a six off the next delivery. He was looking in a sublime touch with few more delightful strokes. But Kulkarni got his revenge in the 4th over as he dismissed Rohit for 30 off 17. Dwayne Smith continued his bowling form and removed Martin Guptill and Krunal Pandya cheaply in the 5th over. The score had moved to 49/3 as powerplay finished. Nitish Rana and Jos Buttler were at the crease.

Rana to the rescue

GL had tightened the screws on the MI batsmen after a shaky start. The four overs after the powerplay yielded only 23 runs. But then it was time for Rana to flourish. With Buttler in the company, both gave a boost to the run rate by hitting some big strokes. They collected 42 runs off the next 3 overs and set a great platform for the big hitters to come in and strike from the first ball. They had reached 114/3 at the end of 13 overs.

Excellent death bowling halted MI’s run

Dwayne Bravo got rid of Buttler in the 14th over just as he was starting to look dangerous. He took a superb catch off his own bowling. Rana though took the onus on himself to strike big. He reached his fifty in the 15th over off just 28 balls. He kept knocking the bowlers for fours and sixes until the 17th over when Bravo sent him back. He scored a brilliant 70 off 36 balls. MI could have got close to 200 easily but some brilliant death bowling from Bravo and Kulkarni halted the progress. They could score only 27 runs off the last 4 overs and lost 4 wickets. They ended with 172/8, well short of what they should have achieved.

Praveen, Kulkarni, Smith and Bravo all picked up 2 wickets each. Rohit looked in a super touch earlier, but luckily for GL, he was sent back early in the innings. After that, only Rana was able to handle the quality bowling of GL. At one stage, they looked well set to touch the 200 mark, but the bowlers executed the yorkers perfectly and did not allow the batsmen to get under the ball.

GL off to a racing start

Vinay Kumar bowled a superb wicket-maiden over first up. He hit the pads of Aaron Finch off the second ball and found him in front of the wickets. But then, Suresh Raina and Brendon McCullum went berserk and attacked every single bowler. Both were hitting boundaries at will. They were also assisted by some ordinary bowling by MI. No bowler was hitting the right lines and lengths. The next 5 overs yielded 8, 18, 7, 18 and 19 runs. The score raced off to 70/1 as powerplay finished.

Raina brought GL closer

Raina and McCullum continued smashing the bowlers and brought down the required run rate to 7 per over. Harbhajan got the all important wicket of McCullum in the 10th over who scored 48 off 27 balls. Raina brought up his second consecutive half-century in the 11th over. Dinesh Karthik got unlucky to be given out caught down the leg side when the ball had touched his thigh pad. Vinay Kumar got his second wicket with that. Bumrah came back to dismiss Raina for 58 off 36 balls in the 13th over. Dwayne Smith was joined by Ravindra Jadeja as the 13th over finished and they needed just 47 runs off the last 7 overs.

GL cruised to victory to seal a top 2 spot

Smith was in the mood to finish the game in a hurry as he hit some powerful shots. No bowler was able to restrict the big runs. The fielding of MI was sloppy and fully supported the GL’s cause. Smith finished with 37 off 23 balls. Jadeja also remained unbeaten for 21 off 15 balls. They won the match comfortably by 6 wickets with 2.1 overs to spare and became the first team to qualify for the playoffs. SRH also benefitted with this result and made it to the playoffs.

GL batsmen were up for the chase right from the start. First, Raina and McCullum, and then Smith never let the pressure of the runs on the board get to them. None of the MI bowlers bowled wicket-taking deliveries. GL moved to number 1 spot on the points table with the win and are guaranteed for a spot in the top 2. MI are almost knocked out of the tournament. Their only chance is resting on the net run rate but that too received a hammering after this loss. So, the chances at this moment look bleak for MI and we might well see new champions this season.

Match Result:

MI 172/8 (20 overs), Rana 70, Bravo 22/2, Praveen 24/2

GL 173/4 (17.5 overs), Raina 58, McCullum 48, V Kumar 17/2

GL won by 6 wickets

MOM: Suresh Raina

IPL 2016 Points Table and Standings

Position	Team	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Net RR	Points
1	GL	14	9	5	0	0	-0.374	18
2	SRH	13	8	5	0	0	+0.355	16
3	RCB	13	7	6	0	0	+0.930	14
4	KKR	13	7	6	0	0	+0.022	14
5	DD	13	7	6	0	0	-0.102	14
6	MI	14	7	7	0	0	-0.146	14
7	RPS	14	5	9	0	0	+0.015	10
8	KXIP	14	4	10	0	0	-0.646	8

IPL 2016 Schedule

Date	Time (BST/IST)	Fixture	Venue
May 22	4:00 PM	Kolkat Knight Riders v/s Sunrisers Hyderabad	Kolkata
May 22	8:00 PM	Delhi Daredevils v/s Royal Challengers Bangalore	Raipur